Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
He framed that little beloved face, such perfection, his thumbs sliding over her cheekbones, knowing he was stealing from another realm and he’d have to pay for it sometime, most likely in some horrific way. He’d learned there was always a price, but she was worth kingdoms. Worth anything.
He bent his head and pressed his forehead against hers, murmuring to her softly.
“If I never get the chance to say this again, Ambrielle, I fell hard for you. From the moment you pushed that knife into me and it broke, all the while looking me straight in the eye. I could see right into you, and I fell hard. I know why you’re with me, and it’s okay with me. That’s who I am, and I’ve accepted what I was shaped into a long time ago. Looking at you, if that’s what it took in order to have the privilege of serving you, then it was worth everything I went through in order to be this man, even if you’re mine only for a short time. I just wanted you to know.”
Before she could reply, protest, say anything at all, he kissed her. Her lips were soft and pliant. Opening for him to give him that cleansing fire that swept him away to paradise. He let the flames burn through him until he couldn’t think, just feel. Until her body was imprinted on his and she somehow had wound her way inside him, branding his bones and organs with her name, with who she was, so there was never going to be room for anyone else. Just her. Just his fairy princess. Ambrielle.
Abruptly, he lifted his head and dropped his hands from her, stepping back. “Do what I tell you.” His voice was gruff. All business now.
He didn’t wait to see her nod. He made short work of the alarm system and even shorter work of the lock. Stoddard should have had a dog. His security sucked. If he was going to be in the business of shaking down his clients, he needed to know how to survive. He wasn’t very good at it.
Easing the door open to ensure there was no secondary alarm or creaks that would give them away, Master went through first, entering sideways to present the smallest target. Shadows lengthened along the hall, but there was no movement that he could detect. His internal warning system told him there was no one waiting to take his head off. He moved down the hall toward the living room, the place he’d last spotted Stoddard.
The man sat in a recliner staring off into space. There was no smell of alcohol, nor did he have a glass in his hand. He just sat there, as if waiting for someone, yet he didn’t look toward the front door. He just stared straight ahead. Master held up his fist to indicate to Ambrie to stay in the hall. He stepped into the living room but stayed out of sight of the windows, not an easy thing to do when the glass was so expansive.
“Came to talk to you, Stoddard. You might want to sit very still and not reach for anything like a phone or a gun. Either will get you a bullet in your head very fast.”
Stoddard’s gaze flicked to him. He didn’t look particularly shocked to see him. “I’ve been expecting you. There’s no need to drag this out. Just get it over. Shoot me. I didn’t do what you told me to do, and I’m not going to. I know you’re holding my wife, and you’ve said you’re going to send her to me in pieces, but you’ve had her so long and the last three times I’ve asked for proof of life you’ve refused. I don’t think she’s alive. Reese has a wife and daughter. I’m not going to ruin his life on the chance of keeping her alive anymore.”
Stoddard’s speech was the last thing Master expected. The bit about someone holding his wife and threatening to cut her into pieces was far too close to what the Ghosts had their assassins for hire do to the women they kidnapped to bring the motorcycle clubs in line.
“Reese thought you were acting out of character, and he asked me to stop by and see if you were under duress. I would say having someone kidnap and threaten to cut your wife into pieces would qualify. What do these people want you to do?”
“He has to go back to prison. Reese. They want him back in prison.”
“His family?” Master persisted, because that didn’t make any sense. Why would they have waited so long? Things were beginning to click into place. The Russian assassins had taken Stoddard’s wife. He didn’t believe in coincidences.
Stoddard frowned. “Reese’s family? I doubt it. Why would they? No, whoever is behind this is powerful and ugly. He made an enemy, and I have no idea who it is or why they want him back in jail. I figured he did something there, and once he’s back in they intend to even the score.”