Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
There’s a tic in his jaw. “If they were worried about who or what I am, they wouldn’t have touched Bella. And how do we know they won’t just kill you when you get there?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “You’re in love with my sister. They know it. They’ll damn sure use that against you.”
“She’s your blood, Dash.” I inhale and exhale a heavy breath. “They have us both by the balls.”
“At least together one of us should be thinking logically at all times. Or not, and we’re fucked.”
I grunt. “I think we’re fucked.”
“Either way, I’m coming with you,” he insists.
I hesitate, but the truth is Dash and I share similar demons, and that likeness contributes to our bond, which is at times angrier than it is friendly. We both know the darkness in the other, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing right now. I give a nod. “Where’s your car?”
“At your office.”
In unison we head in that direction and a few minutes later, we’re at the trunk of his sports car where he lifts a flap and displays an armory. “What the fuck?” I ask. “Are you secretly still working for the government?”
“I write fictional books inspired by a real assassin who as of late, appears to be obsessed with me. He’s protective. Hell, he saved Allie’s life when your father came at her, but people like him can turn on you like a light switch.”
“I haven’t given that as much thought as it deserves.”
“I live in fear for Allie to the point I’ve been losing sleep. I have to go after him, but that’s another story for another time. Right now, we need Bella back.” He shoves a knife in his boot. “They’ll find most of your weapons. If you pack enough, they won’t find them all.”
It’s sound logic I hope we don’t need. I follow his lead and I’ve just finished turning a five-thousand-dollar suit into a coat of arms when Gavin shows up, puffing air. “You cannot go to this meeting without me present. I promise you, the Allen family will have their attorney present.”
“If this was a professional meeting, they wouldn’t have kidnapped Bella,” I say. “You’re not coming, Gavin, but stay close to your phone. If I need you, I’ll call.”
“Agreed,” Dash says. “This is a family matter now.” He slams the trunk shut. “We got this.”
Dash and I share a look and then once again, turn in unison and walk toward the doors of the vehicle, him to the driver’s seat, me to the passenger seat—it is his car, after all. Not to mention, I’m so on edge, my nerves jumping about beneath my skin and crawling around everywhere, to the point I’m liable to run someone off the road if they get in the way right now.
I climb inside and Gavin is at my door arguing with me. I shut the door and shut him up. Dash joins me and does the same. I glance at my watch. “We need to move. We have twenty minutes.”
“Do we know where we’re going? I assume you do since you’ve been digging around in these people’s lives.”
I shoot him a bullet stare. “Fuck you, Dash. I was trying to protect Bella.”
“Don’t be sensitive. I didn’t say you weren’t.”
I hit his navigation control and speak the address. “Drive,” I snap, as if his GPS were him.
He shifts into reverse, pulls us out of the spot, and drives.
The silence is not comfortable.
I did dig into the Allen family’s lives, but they were being held over my head. A gauntlet about to fall and not just on me, but also Bella which drives my thoughts to a very bad place. Maybe my father has taunted me to go after the Allen family knowing full well it would backfire. And it has. On Bella.
Ten minutes later we’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and I’m losing my mind. We’re going to be late to the meeting,” I murmur. “Too damn late for comfort.” I glance at my watch and grimace. “We might need to leave your car and walk the rest of the way.”
“Chill, man. My gut says they want something from you. They won’t take what is yours. Favors don’t work that way.” He glances over at me and motions to the GPS and taps the screen. “Traffic breaks in about three minutes.”
I check my phone for messages and find none, and it feels like there is a blade inside me cutting me to pieces, one vital organ at a time. The idea of never seeing her again is shredding me. “I never meant to touch her,” I say, my throat raw with emotion. “Want to? Yes. Intend to? Never. Even after she threw her arms around me in excitement, my hands stayed by my side. She pushed me. She tempted me.”