Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom dressed in a pale green maternity top with pink, blue, and yellow balloons all over it and lightweight pants that hit her just below the knees. She looked so fucking beautiful it hurt to look at her.
“Come here, girl,” I held out my hand to her. Surprisingly, she crossed the short distance and took it. I pulled her into my arms and gently kissed her once. “You good?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”
I grinned at her. “I need to run through the shower and change my clothes. Then I’m takin’ you to see Doc. He’s expectin’ us.”
“You don’t have to go with me. I can do this on my own.”
“Nope. I’m goin’ with you. You’re not doin’ anythin’ by yourself anymore.”
The puzzled look she gave me had me smothering a smile. “You’re the strangest man I’ve ever met.” She shook her head. “I already told you there isn’t any money. There won’t be any money.”
That had me scowling at her. “And I told you I didn’t give a fuck about money. Maybe I need to go about this a different way. I already know some things about you, but you don’t know anything about me. So let me tell you. I’m a Marine. I work for an independent paramilitary contracting company called ExFil. We mostly do search and rescue, but, from time to time, we’re hired by the government for protection detail.” Her eyes widened slightly, but she continued to listen. “I’m also a hacker. Nothin’ I can’t do with a computer. I’m the club’s tech guy. I was the one who dug up stuff on you and Beaner and your dad’s lawyer for Thorn when you first arrived yesterday.”
“Beaner,” she said, looking away. “And his name’s not Devan.”
“No, honey. It’s Evan Day. He’s been with us a while, so it was a pretty big blow to find out he betrayed the club. And you.” That got her gaze snapping back to me.
“Me? What do I have to do with anything? I’m nothing to you guys.” She shook her head and turned away again. “Just a stray you brought in off the street.”
I went to her, cupping her cheek and turning her back to look at me. “This club helps and protects women and children. We help and protect anyone who needs it. We do not take advantage of a woman, then take her away from her home and drop her off with no means of providing for herself for any reason. That’s a line Beaner crossed that he can’t come back from. No matter what we find in regard to your dad’s death or anything else related to you, he betrayed the club by abandoning you the way he did.”
“You know, he could have thought I had my stuff with me. Or that I was rich enough I could get myself out of that jam on my own. Most men don’t believe me when I tell them I don’t have my daddy’s money to rely on.”
“That’s something we’ll look into, but given the things I’ve already found out, I seriously doubt that’s the case. He took pains to spread your trail all over the midwestern part of the country, making it look like you’d just taken off on your own without a care in the world. My guess is, anyone looking for you after your dad died thought you were a thoughtless, spoiled little rich girl who had her hands on the family fortune and split.”
She winced. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. It was just me and Dad. Probably no reason to think otherwise. Since no one knew anything about LimeLight Division, I could see how people would think that about me.”
Which got me thinking. “What about friends? Wouldn’t your friends have gone looking for you?”
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “If I had any close friends. I’ve been working my ass off, trying to get a good education and work my way up in my father’s company. My social life has been nil since before I graduated high school. That little adventure with Devan was the first time I’d done anything like that. If it hadn’t been summer break, I doubt I would have. I usually took the summers off to rest and recharge. Not only from school, but from work. I scheduled off Memorial Day through Labor Day. My boss at the company let me because I was the boss’s daughter. He probably shouldn’t have, but he did. I think he thought I’d do him favors down the road one day if I was in charge.”
“And who wouldn’t think you’d be in charge one day?” I muttered. “It still doesn’t excuse what Beaner did. He’s gonna pay for that. As to you being a stray? No. You’re not a stray. You’re a lost soul who found her way home.”