Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
“She would have been there when he gifted them with the tattoos,” Javier pointed out. “How old were they? I assumed they were older, but we don’t know that. Kane, did Rose ever say how old she was when Whitney brought in the tattoo artist?”
“She talked about the puppies they raised and how he brought in fighting dogs. They were traumatized when their puppies were killed in front of them. It was sometime after that,” Kane answered.
“They couldn’t have been that old when he gave them puppies,” Mack said. “Rose told us Whitney wanted them to learn a lesson about survival. They had taught their dogs everything but how to fight for survival. Of course, he hadn’t revealed that he would put them in a fighting ring with experienced fighting dogs when the puppies turned a year old.”
“He’s such a bastard,” Rhianna said. “I’ve tried dozens of times to find him.”
Gideon turned sharp eyes on her. He wasn’t alone. Every man in the room looked at her.
“What the hell, Rhianna?” Javier snapped. “Without backup? What if you found him?”
“That was the plan,” she said calmly. “I would have killed him.”
“I’ve warned you countless times, Ree,” Mack interrupted before Javier continued. “You gave me your word you would stop going rogue.”
“I’ve kept my word, Mack. I was referring to the times I tried to find him prior to promising you I wouldn’t go off alone.” She flashed a little mocking grin at her street brothers. “I’m trying to learn some Mack-sense, whatever that is.”
Jaimie laughed. “Mack doesn’t have any sense, Rhianna. Don’t let him fool you. He just pretends so all of you will think he’s a wise man and you’ll keep following him.”
“If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d strangle you, Jaimie,” Mack said. “In the meantime, cancel asking anyone outside our circle any questions yet. Let’s keep this to ourselves.”
Gideon was grateful for that small reprieve. The minute Jaimie asked any of the other women any questions—particularly Lily Whitney-Miller, Peter Whitney’s adopted daughter—they would get a visit. Lily would come immediately. She was brilliant. There was no fooling or misleading her. She was actively looking for the women she had been raised with—the ones her father had experimented on over and over. She was determined to right as many wrongs as possible.
Gideon knew Lily. Her father’s guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders. She was innocent, but that didn’t matter. She still felt that weight. She was aggressive in looking for solutions for the women. She shared with the GhostWalkers the money she’d inherited from an ongoing, very sizable trust. Gideon couldn’t fault her for her tireless work ethic, but he didn’t want or need her interference when he was desperate to save his relationship with Rory.
He had felt, for a brief moment, real happiness. He’d never had that. He’d never felt hope or a sense of looking forward to waking up. There was no anticipation. Now, there had been Rory. The brightness of her. The reality of her. He knew she was genuine, whether the others believed it or not.
“Here’s an interesting idea.” Paul Mangan spoke and immediately the room went silent.
Gideon could count on one hand the few times Paul had ever contributed to their free-for-all brainstorming meetings. Paul was the newest member of their team and also the youngest. He was the only nonfamily member, having been placed there by his father, Sergeant Major Theodore Griffen, who ran the team.
All of them protected him in much the same way as they tried to protect Rhianna. She tried to protect him too. He had gifts few had, and no one, especially Peter Whitney, could find out about them. Gideon could never understand why Paul didn’t give his opinion more. It wasn’t like they didn’t know he was the smartest man in a room already filled with extremely intelligent men.
“Have her join us. Introduce her to everyone. Express your concerns. Bring them right out into the open so you’re not going behind her back. Explain everything to her. Who we are. What we do. Tell her about Peter Whitney and the experiments he did on the orphan girls. Tell her she’s one of them. Drop a couple of names. See if she reacts or remembers. Let me examine her.”
Immediately, his suggestion was met with heads shaking in disagreement. Even Gideon, who had liked his idea up to that point, found himself reacting negatively.
“You can’t take a chance, Paul.”
“I can if Javier is sitting right next to her.”
Every cell in Gideon’s body rejected that suggestion. “Absolutely not. Even if I agreed to someone killing her, it won’t be Javier. I know Rory’s mine. There isn’t going to be another woman for me. I’ve been struggling for a long time now. Having just a small taste of what my life could be like with her, the drop will be severe. It will take a long time to get over her death, let alone someone in my own family killing her. I would have a difficult time forgiving them. I might even be dangerous.”