Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“Well, you’re not getting any sleep.”
“And I’m starving,” Rhianna said. “Come on, let’s get out of here. There are so many people and not all of them were lucky like us.”
Helping Claire off the bed, he made his way toward the exit where his men were waiting. He’d make the hospital a huge donation.
Rhianna climbed into the car and he helped Claire inside, following her in and pulling her in close to him.
She rested her head against him.
“You can’t sleep.”
“I won’t,” she said. “It’s everything that happened today. It was all so … intense. One minute we were paying for our food, the next minute, it was raining bullets. I hate them.”
“So do I,” Rhianna said. “They’re going to find them though. There’s no way they can get away with this.”
According to his sources, the café didn’t have any security cameras around. All they had were statements from witnesses who’d experienced high trauma. It was going to be a struggle to bring these men to justice, but he had his own brand he intended to work on.
When they got to his apartment building, he held Claire in his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and he was very much aware of his sister watching them.
Once inside his apartment, Rhianna went to the kitchen. He hoped while he dealt with his woman that she’d order takeout as his sister was a terrible cook.
He ran her a bath. “I want you to get into the water, but don’t put your hair under. I’ll deal with that.” He kissed her head. “I’ll be back with some tweezers to get some of the glass out.”
“Gabriel,” she said.
He stopped at the door.
“You’re going to hurt whoever did this, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Do you really want to know the answer to that?”
“Yes.”
“The person who did this better run because when I find them, they’re never going to be able to identify the body.”
“Because they put your sister in danger?”
He stared at her, not really sure how to answer that. He loved his sister and had taken care of her for as long as he could remember, but it was Claire he was going to avenge. His sister was just … there.
Leaving the bathroom, he entered the kitchen to find his sister pouring out some hot coffee.
“It might help to settle her nerves. I also ordered pizza. It’s her favorite.”
He nodded, going to the cupboard in the far wall where he kept his emergency first-aid kit.
After pulling it down, he grabbed the tweezers and a bowl.
“She could have died today,” Rhianna said.
“And you could have.”
“Claire saved me.”
“I know.”
“Are you angry at me?” Rhianna asked.
“Why would I be angry at you?”
“Claire put herself in danger to protect me. She didn’t think about herself.”
“That wouldn’t make me hate you.”
“But even if you lie to yourself, I know you have feelings for her.”
He went to his sister and pulled her close, kissing her head. “Stop it. I don’t need you to go all teary-eyed on me just yet. I need you to be strong for me. Do you think you can do that?”
“I know I can but you don’t have to hide this relationship from me,” Rhianna said. Her smile was soft as he pulled away. “She’s different from all the other women.”
“Rhianna, don’t get your hopes up.”
“You two have already been together longer than any of your previous relationships.”
“This is not a relationship. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Rhianna kept on staring into his eyes. He didn’t know exactly what she was looking for but it started to unnerve him the way she watched him.
“You can keep on saying that, but I know you, big brother. I know how you feel, and that’s something you cannot hide, but keep on trying.”
He rolled his eyes and left her to get the pizza when it arrived.
Claire leaned up against the edge of the bath, eyes closed, which opened as he put down the medical kit near the edge of the bath.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He removed his clothes and without an invite, climbed in behind her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to clean your hair, and then I’ll wash and take care of you.”
“You don’t need to do this,” she said.
“I want to.” It wasn’t a lie. He had this overwhelming need to look after her. To take care of her. With the tweezers in hand, getting the shards were easy, especially since the water hadn’t touched her hair.
“We were going to go shopping. Rhianna wanted to have a little fun and after she found out about us and our arrangement, I felt so bad that I agreed.”
“You both have been close for a long time,” he said. “I’m pleased she didn’t hold our time together against you.”
She chuckled. “I think she’s happy for us. I’ve told her it is on limited time. We’re going to go our separate ways soon.”