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)
Gideon swore under his breath. He’d been sidelined for far too long. He needed action, and he desperately wanted to go after the men who had hurt his woman. He felt every ache. Every single cut, no matter how shallow. The punches they’d inflicted.
“Javier says the word, and I can have one of my birds follow them home. I can take them out with my rifle.”
“Your call, Gideon. She’s yours.”
The stirring in his mind was gentle. Barely a whisper of a touch. A stroke of love. I need to look after you, Gideon. Someone does.
His heart felt as if it had melted in his chest. His gut clenched hard and did a slow roll. How was he ever going to let her out of his sight again? This could never happen again. Not ever.
Stay with me. He brought her fingers to his mouth and bit down on the tips. I can never go through this again. I wanted to set the world on fire.
He felt the beginnings of alarm, and her lashes fluttered as more awareness settled in. Where am I? It isn’t safe. You have to be safe.
He turned his head. “Mack, I need a little privacy, please.”
“I’ll be in the other room until you make your decision, but it has to be soon.”
Gideon nodded. “I am safe. I knew that would be your first concern, Rory, so I asked the doc to check you thoroughly. Whitney didn’t plant a bomb or a program. He did, however, make your lungs worse. Doc thinks he can help with that if you want him to.”
He nibbled at her fingers again and waited to see what she would do. She hadn’t wanted any member of his team to help her.
“Doc saved your life. You were nearly dead when we got to you. Without him, there was no chance. I didn’t hesitate to use every member of my team to find you. They helped me bring you home.” He bit down gently on her fingertips again. “I’m just going to come clean here, Rory, and be honest with you. I was all for waiting as patiently as possible and persuading you to be with me, but I’m no longer going in that direction.”
Her long lashes fluttered, and for one heart-stopping moment, her lips seemed to quirk as if she might be amused.
You aren’t?
She sounded exhausted, as if she were going under again, and he was probably going to lose his moment with her. He had to tell her while he had her to himself.
“No, Red. I’m not letting you walk away from me. I screwed up bad. I know I did, but you’re not better off without me, and I’m sure as hell not better off without you. So, bottom line, we’re going to do this relationship thing. We’re going to make it work. Getting your trust back will take work, and I’ll put the time in, but you’re staying.”
Her lips did that little quirk again, and this time he did feel a hint of amusement in his mind. Then call Larrsen.
He bit down on her fingertips a little harder. “Rory, you have to know what I am. I told you. I’m not a choirboy. I’m a predator.”
You’re mine, choirboy or predator, but call Larrsen.
She sounded as if she was slipping away from him. He glanced toward the room where Paul was sleeping. He knew the toll that healing took on a psychic surgeon. Gideon had come so close to losing her.
“You’re tying my hands, Red.” He leaned over her and brushed kisses on her forehead. “They’ll want your clothes. Photographs. Are you prepared for that? For a trial?”
Will it get that far?
She knew him so well. He’d never allow her to relive the trauma of what those men had put her through. “What’s the point of letting Larrsen arrest them?”
My friends. Harvey. Clearing our names.
Of course she would worry about that.
“I’ll make the call, Rory, but they’ll want to ask you questions. Are you going to be up for that?”
Don’t know, but I’ll do my best. So tired.
“Sleep, Red. I’ll have Doc with you when the police get here.”
She didn’t respond. Gideon called in Mack and told him his decision to call Larrsen. They discussed how they would handle the various questions that would naturally arise as to how Rory had been found and why the police hadn’t been informed immediately.
Mack, as the commanding officer, made the call to Larrsen.
Larrsen informed Mack that he would be bringing two others with him—one his commander—and to expect them immediately. He also told Mack it was imperative not to tell anyone, not even her friends or boss, that she had been located, even before Mack had conveyed the same to Larrsen.
“I had my men set up cameras, and we’re expecting the men who kidnapped her to return. When they do, we want to detain, identify and question them,” Mack said.