Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“Not that group. Dusty. Kayla. Emma.” Emma and Kayla were Jake and Olvander’s women. He held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. “I’m talking about them. They’ll rally around her. She can bring her sister, and if she’s got a husband, bring him too.”
My chest burned. The need to get to Billie’s side was the only thing I could feel in that moment. “I can’t make any promises. This is a different scenario than anyone in here has dealt with.”
“I get that. I do. We can be here for you and her, if you want us.”
I stopped, studying him. I studied him hard, pushing aside getting to Billie, because this was important. Drinks with Olvander was the most I’d done with the team since joining. It’d been the same deal with my other team. I had acquaintances outside of the team too, but it was mostly buddies I could call on for a favor if I needed something. Vice versa as well. Getting friendly with the team just wasn’t something I did, but Reeves had been trying and he’d been trying for a while. There was a different look in Stone’s gaze today.
I slung my bag over my shoulder. “Maybe.”
It was the best I could give him, and Reeves saw that. He jerked his chin before leaving.
My phone buzzed the whole time as I went to my truck. For the entire drive to Vicky and Howard’s farm, my phone didn’t stop making sounds. I was used to getting greetings, messages of support after a loss, and that kind of thing, but this was different.
This was insane.
This was just a glimpse of what Billie dealt with since she was twelve.
The thought of that almost brought me to my knees.
35
BILLIE
For all the chaos in the world, there was also magic.
I didn’t know how to explain it, to understand it, but as Brett drove up the driveway, it was there. Magic. A calm in the storm.
I’d felt it swirling around me with Vicky and Howard’s concern, the way Roger took the kids to their house and Lo stayed behind because she didn’t want to leave my side. When the news hit, the storm that was already brewing was just compounded.
Seeing the beams from Brett’s headlights turning onto our driveway, a tranquil feeling settled in me. Over the week, I went through all the emotions. Numb. Being scared. Grief. Trying to run. Today, I was okay.
I was dealing. I was good.
It was Brett.
He wasn’t the detective like Travis. He wasn’t the one with military training like Howard. He was an athlete, but he’d grown up hard. He was like me.
I went out into the darkness with the house lit up behind me. Everyone was up. Cops were still here, and a couple FBI people. They were all talking to each other, leaving me alone.
I knew they were watching me.
I wanted to get away from their eyes, but it was also Brett. He drew me to him like a magnet.
As he pulled up right in front of me, he held my gaze through the window. He’d not showered. He’d warned me about that, but he still looked delectable.
His lips curved up. His eyes warmed, and when he opened his door, I flew to him.
He caught me, and in the blink of an eye, he lifted me and his mouth fused to mine.
It was like this with us, every time. The same insatiable need for each other. We’d been starved of something that only the other could give.
He turned and sat me down in the passenger seat next to him.
His lips never left mine.
Moving his hand to the back of my neck, he anchored me as he took charge. Tendrils of lust pushed away any worry. Need pulsed through me, building with each throb. Growing. Rising. That hunger was almost its own entity, taking me over.
I surged up, wrapping my arms around his neck, pressing as close to him as I could get.
He groaned, resting his forehead to mine.
I panted a little, my heart racing. “Hi.”
He flashed me a grin back. “Hi.”
A light flashed behind him as the door to the house opened. Lo was coming our way, her head down, her hair tucked behind her ears. She glanced over her shoulder to the house, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.
Brett rolled down his window.
“So they sent me out since you two were necking like teenagers,” she announced, rolling her eyes. “And also, ugh. Is that what I have to look forward to with my girls? I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it. Roger most certainly won’t. He’ll be pressed against the door every time the girls come back from the date, a fake rifle in hand. He’s not a real gun guy at all. Though, that makes me love him even more. But anyway…” She stopped, probably trying to remember her original message. “Right. The two FBI agents are freaking out. They say they’re stationed here to protect you. They want to know if you’re going somewhere.”