Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I feel like it would’ve come up.
Then again…this could be the whole hunting situation all over again.
Retrieving the zip ties from my bulletproof vest begins at the same time our boss chortles, “I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised you know your way around a firearm considering you’re friends with Wahl.”
“Best.” I aggressively yank and shove the enemy’s hand into one of the plastic cuff holes. “Friends.” The zipping of one side is swiftly followed by repeating the previous action on the other. “We’re fuckin’ family, Lenkov. And you know it.”
“He must’ve trained you at the range then.” His conversation line isn’t smooth nor is it appreciated. Especially not now. Not today. “Introduced you to Anne. Laura.”
“No, I learned how to handle weapons out at his ma’s property. I’ve never been to the ‘official’ range with him.”
Carefully leaning over to secure his feet together is done next.
“That’s strictly ‘guy time’.”
“Hm,” our boss arrogantly hums, folding his arms across his chest, “is that what that is?”
“I do know that Anne is the owner of The Hunt Locker and adore that she gave me her recipe for Sautauthig after letting Slater take some home that she had leftover. I definitely added way more sugar when I made it for us, but that’s not really important right now.”
None of this is important right now.
“But I don’t um…I don’t recognize the name Laura.”
That’s because she shouldn’t.
Doesn’t need to.
“You don’t?” Seventeen feigns surprise. “I mean even I know about Laura.”
Tossing him a glare occurs in tandem with zipping closed the newest restraints.
“I thought you two told each other everything.”
It’s impossible not to notice the tiny twitch of hurt the statement conjures.
Fuck!
I can’t physically and emotionally protect her all at the same time!
And I can’t stop subduing one enemy threat to neutralize the other.
Maybe I can just let her shoot Seventeen?
Wing him?
Clip him right in the mouth so he shuts the fuck up for an extended period of time instead of making more messes for me to clean up.
The realization that this mess could’ve been actively avoided has me venomously biting in his direction, “Where the fuck were you, Lenkov?” All eyes cut to me as I grab the duct tape out of my tactical pocket. “How the fuck did I beat you here when I called your ass from the highway twenty minutes out?!”
“That was only ten minutes ago!”
“You owe DPD a sizable donation to one of their charities as a thank you for cutting my time in half.” An arrogant, vicious smirk is wedged between statements. “Now, I’mma repeat myself jus’ this one time, Lenkov. Where. The. Fuck. Were you?”
His reluctance to answer instantly infuriates me more. “I told you I was in an important meeting.”
“What?!”
“I…” he avoids allowing his stare to gravitate Arley’s direction, “had to wait until the conference call was over before I could personally come down here. And I would’ve just sent a member of security from my floor, however, they were shifting posts; therefore, it was unideal timing.”
“Unideal?!” I seethe and slap the freshly cut tape over the wheezing attacker’s bloody mouth. “Arley fuckin’ dead is unideal!”
“I definitely think so,” she good-naturedly interjects.
“Look, Wahl, I heeded your whining-”
“Warning!”
“-and tried contacting the secretaries on this floor but received no answer.”
“It’s their lunch hour,” my girlfriend softly sighs. “They typically get together – at least once a week – and go out. Sometimes with other employees from other departments. Usually just with other secretaries, though. They exchange the hottest goss. Bitch about the latest problems. The married ones offer to set up the single ones for double dating adventures. Melissa always offers to bring me something back yet never invites me to go. I guess it would be weird to invite the boss? It’d be like inviting the coach to a players only meeting, right?” She takes a tiny bite of her bottom lip. “Or maybe I’m just too weird to be invited? Maybe me being too weird is the reason no one invites me to go out for drinks either? Maybe me being super weird is the reason no one invites me to do anything with them outside of work?”
“You know what’s super fuckin’ weird?” I segue by delivering a glare to her ex-boyfriend, successfully aiding in the alleviation of the social disappointment its evident she’s experiencing. “That you ignored the direct command I gave you, Lenkov!”
“I don’t work for you, Wahl!”
“You won’t work for anyone if you ever let my woman’s life be in jeopardy again because you couldn’t jus’ hang up the fuckin’ phone!”
“It’s not that simple!”
“It’s not that fuckin’ complicated!”
“Maybe not for a moonshine drinking merc like yourself, but for some of us, some of us that have fucking numbers instead of names, it’s a little less black and white!”
“You’re gonna be seein’ a whole lot of red when this shit is over!”