Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“I am not Zan.” McKay yawned discreetly behind his hand and frowned Miles’s way. “Couldn’t Serena come up with a more manly name? I sound like I should be in a sci-fi movie. You know if I’d known she was going to turn around and write a freaking book about my life, I would never have told her that story.”
Miles shrugged. “Yeah, she was there. How quickly they forget. She kind of saved your ass, so you owed her.”
The big guy frowned. “Wait. Are you trying to tell me I’m actually Pierce Craig?” His face went still. “Holy shit. She did. That’s my story. Huh. At least they got a handsome bastard to play me. Adam, I’m going to need a cut of that.”
Now Miles’s middle finger showed up. “Not happening. You’re lucky I’m even willing to help you out at all. You’re the asshole brother I never, ever wanted and would like to give back.”
Taggart’s smile proved the man could have been on the big screen if he’d wanted to be. “Ah, you say the sweetest things. What’s this hellhole? I like it. Reminds me of real clubs. My wife needed Sanctum to look like a combination high-tech torture palace/five-star hotel. This place is real. I bet you don’t even have much of an electricity bill.”
Alex moaned. “I will pay the fucking bill if you will stop complaining about it. Dear god, you’re a multimillionaire and you complain about one high utility bill.”
“How do you think I stay a multimillionaire? It sure ain’t by giving TXU my paycheck. I grew up poor, Moneybags. I can’t pay out because a couple of Doms wanted to see if they could keep the hamster wheel going for a solid week.”
“It was for charity,” McKay shot back. “And I grew up next to you. Literally in the house next to yours. Could we get on with this? There’s a hotel room with my name on it.”
“No, there’s not,” Miles said with a sigh. “We’re scheduled to go back as soon as this meeting’s over. We can’t afford for the Agency boys to figure out we’re here. But Big Tag didn’t tell you that.”
McKay stood up. “You suck, Ian. I’m going to find some coffee. It’s going to be a long day.”
He sort of stumbled back toward the kitchen where the bodyguards, along with Riley, were waiting.
Big Tag pulled out a bunch of paperwork. “Don’t look at me like that, Kay. We came in on the small 4L jet. It’s got a bedroom because Drew Lawless is freaky that way. Even now the flight attendant is making sure Alex has lavender-scented sheets and a white-noise player that will only switch to baby screams twenty minutes before we land. See, I’m not a complete asshole. Now how about we get down to business. I hear a little birdy’s been giving out classified intel.”
Kay stiffened beside him. “Yes, sir. I laid out the plan to Mr. Hunt after it became obvious there was no other way to keep the op going.”
“None? You can’t think of a single other option opened to you? Because I can,” Taggart asked, one brow climbing up. That was one judgmental brow. The rest of the man’s face hadn’t changed at all, but there was such power in his expression.
It would look good on film. He could try it later in the mirror. He filed the expression away and tried not reach for Kayla’s hand.
“I should have called in and gotten advice.” Kay’s voice was tight, her usual happiness dimmed to the point that she seemed lethargic. It was hard to see her that way because she was always bright and full of life. “I should have put the choice in Damon’s and your hands. I didn’t call in until I’d already screwed up. I’m sorry.”
“I am, too,” Taggart replied without a hint of sympathy in his arctic tone. “You put this company in a tricky position. We’re contractors here. If the Agency finds out how you’ve jeopardized this op and its position, not only will our government contracts get shut down, we’ll likely be brought up on criminal charges. And Hunt here can sue the shit out of us.”
Criminal charges? He shook his head, trying to process what that meant. “I don’t understand. What do you mean they could arrest her? For telling me the truth?”
Yolo…what was his name again…Miles leaned in. “In this case, telling you the truth could be considered anything from leaking classified intelligence to straight up espionage.”
“Or otherwise known as treason when it’s an American citizen committing the crime against an American intelligence agency,” Taggart pointed out. “She’s looking at anything from ten years to life, though the more realistic outcome would be to quietly move her to a federal facility where she wouldn’t be heard from again.”