Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
It doesn't have the effect on her I expect, and I hate the way she freezes in my hands.
"Brielle, I didn't mean anything—"
"It's fine," she says, but as the words leave her mouth, she's wiggling for me to put her down.
I let her slip from my hands when I really want to pin her to the bed and apologize until she understands that I didn't mean it the way she took it, but I know it'll take more than a few words to get the memories of the things Nathan and Xan said to her out of her mind.
"Baby," I whisper and step forward.
She doesn't back away further when I reach for her, and I take a little solace in the way she presses her palm over my heart as she looks up at me.
"Will the meeting take very long?"
"I can't answer that," I tell her, but then realize how it sounds. "I don't know what the meeting is about yet. So I really don't know. I'll get back here as soon as I can though."
She gives me a weak smile, the promise seemingly like nothing more than words to her.
I swallow down my anger because it's not her fault, and the only way I can prove to her that I keep my word is to keep showing up and being consistent. It's what it took for me to eventually trust my adoptive mother, and it definitely required more than a month for me to start letting go of all those abandonment issues.
I press one more kiss to her temple, squeezing her hand gently before leaving the room. The sound of the lock sliding into place guides me down the hallway.
I head out back. The meeting Kincaid requested is taking place at his house, and I have to question the privacy he needs.
I know what the conversation is going to be about, and it has everything to do with me avoiding him for the last several weeks since he asked me to nudge her into admitting what she knows about Nathan Adair's criminal history, but even with everything she's told me, she's still in a his words against hers situation with no proof of her crimes.
I could tell when she admitted that he made her hurt people too that he threatened her with legal consequences if she ever tried to get him into trouble even though she didn't go so far as to say that out loud.
I lift my hand to knock on the door, but Em pulls it open with a wide smile on her face before my knuckles can meet the wood.
"Good to see you, Newton," she says as she steps to the side so I can enter.
I don't know if I'm paranoid or if there's an accusation in her tone for me being scarce these days.
"I have an appointment with Kincaid."
"He's in the den. Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No thank you," I tell her, walking toward the den.
I've only been in this house a handful of times in the last year. Most all interactions with Kincaid and Emmalyn happen at the clubhouse. This is their private sanctuary, and as valued as I feel as a member of Cerberus, I'm still an employee of the business, and I completely understand the need to keep some level of separation between their personal and business lives.
Kincaid is exactly where Em said he was going to be, and, honestly, I find it a little strange to see him in a recliner with reading glasses on and a newspaper in his hands. Does anyone actually read the physical paper any longer when every article ever written can be found online?
"Sir," I say when I enter, although I know he knew the second I stepped on his front porch.
"Beck," he says, folding the paper and setting it on the side table before pulling the glasses from his face and placing them on top of it. "How are you?"
I fucking hate small talk. I hate it even more when it's used as an opener for something more serious. Why do people not want to get right to the point? Wasting time can be dangerous.
I can't say any of these things to him. I'd never disrespect the man that way.
"I'm good, sir."
"Please," he says waving his hand toward the sofa to his right. "Have a seat."
I eye the spot he indicates longer than probably necessary before doing as he asks.
He chuckles, having noticed my hesitation.
"You're not in trouble, and I'm not a principal, Beck."
"Can I assume that you're also not my boss in this moment, considering you're using my first name?"
I want to pull the words back the second they leave my mouth.
Kincaid's smile doesn't falter.
"I asked something of you as a Cerberus member several weeks ago, but I get the feeling things have changed. If they haven't, please let me know and we can make this about business."