Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
He wasn’t worried about the shooter coming back for him and Mother. There was no way this asshole was getting past Kai. Gabriel and Justin had talked plenty about Kai’s impressive reputation. This hack wasn’t going to get one up on Kai. Dev’s only real concern was how injured Kai might be at the end of the fight.
“There’s our boy,” Mother announced. Dev looked at her and then tried to follow her line of sight into the thick woods. “Looks like he’s a little banged up.”
Movement in the shadows finally caught Dev’s attention, materializing into the tall, slender figure of Kai. Dev’s heart jumped and he was off the deck in the blink of an eye. He ran across the woods, dodging trees and slipping on the damn leaves and pine needles.
When he drew close, he found Kai standing with his left hand braced against a tree while he clutched a gun in his right. Confusion twisted up his face, which was showing the early signs of a bruise on his jaw and a smear of blood on his mouth.
Dev managed to slow down enough that he didn’t exactly crash into Kai, but it was close. He wrapped him in a tight hug and pressed his face into Kai’s throat. “Thank God you’re all right,” he said with a heavy sigh of relief.
“Of course I’m all right.” Kai sounded utterly baffled by the idea that he might not be okay. Like Dev was talking nonsense. And maybe he was, but he’d never seen Kai in action. It was one thing to hear about a person’s reputation and another thing for them to go charging into the woods after an armed man.
“I was worried about you.”
“Oh.”
Dev lifted his face to look at the man in his arms. Kai’s eyes were wide, and there was an adorable flush to his cheeks.
He suddenly cleared his throat, expression turning serious, but Dev wasn’t fooled. Kai was shaken. “Mother?”
“Covering us from the deck.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “She was supposed to keep you in the house and safe.”
Now it was Dev’s turn to blush, heat suffusing his cheeks. “When she spotted you, I couldn’t wait. Needed to make sure you’re okay.”
“A little battered, but fine. We should head back. We need to talk.”
Those words put a heavy weight in Dev’s stomach. This wasn’t going to be a good talk. But it was forgotten for the moment when Kai pushed off the tree and started to limp toward the house, a grimace of pain on his face.
“What—”
“It’s just my knee. Old injury,” Kai quickly reassured him. Kai flashed him a smile that melted away some of Dev’s worry. “If we can beg a bag of ice off Mother, I should be good as new in a couple of hours.”
Dev slipped under Kai’s right arm and wrapped his arm around Kai’s waist, offering him some support as they walked steadily toward the house. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, drawing close to the house. He was afraid to ask. If they had to talk, it was unlikely that Dev’s corpse problem was over. “Did you…”
“He got away. I’m sorry.”
“No! It’s okay. It’s more important that you’re okay.”
Kai sighed. “You might not feel that way when you hear what I have to say.”
“Well, don’t you look a little worse for wear,” Mother called out as they neared the deck.
Dev released Kai to allow him to walk up the two stairs to the deck on his own, but he was right there again to help him into the house. “Mother, could we have a bag of ice, please? Kai has hurt his knee.”
Mother hurried past them into the kitchen while Dev got Kai settled on the couch with his right foot elevated on a footstool.
“I’m feeling very spoiled,” Kai whispered to Dev, a smile playing on his lips.
“I think you can stand to be a little spoiled since you did chase after that armed lunatic.”
Mother returned a minute later with two bags of ice. She placed one on Kai’s knee and handed over the second, wrapped in a towel. “For your jaw.”
“Thanks,” Kai murmured. He pressed it to the new bruise, wincing slightly, before he dug into his pocket and pulled out a wadded piece of paper that he handed to Dev. “He got away, but he was sure to drop this.”
With trembling fingers, Dev flattened out the paper. An ugly sound left his throat when he was faced with the same glossy brochure Jake had handed him months ago, begging to attend the same camp as his friends. “Jake,” he choked out.
“What?” Mother demanded. She was standing behind where Dev sat on the edge of the footstool, her hand on his shoulder.
“Jake. My son. He’s at this camp right now,” Dev replied brokenly. His mind was reeling. A broken clutter of thoughts and panic. He didn’t know what to do next. He was so far away from his son. But so was the assassin, right? But for how long?