Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
And Core going down on me was just life.
I thought about watching Nanook when Core was out of town and him wanting me there when he got back.
I thought about the fact that everything he’d said and done shared what he’d asserted yesterday evening.
That he wanted to see where things could go with me.
I wanted the same.
So today wasn’t our last day together until the end of time, and today didn’t need to be about putting him on the spot to share what he didn’t want to share right now.
We were new.
We had a lot to learn about each other.
We had time.
I could let it go and wait.
And I would blissfully go on for quite a while, falling in love with a man not realizing how bad a decision that would turn out to be.
16
HE WAS HOME
Core
The house was huge, a modern structure, lots of windows, on a steep hill overlooking the lights of LA.
It was also a tactical nightmare, especially considering its security system set a wide perimeter, which meant Core and the men with him were hunkered down in some scrub seventy yards from the structure, and once they knew they were a go, they’d have a steep climb.
There were five guys inside, the whole LA crew, which was a boon.
Core had seven men with him.
The lights flickered in the house. Easily, this could be misinterpreted as a glitch from those inside.
It was not a glitch.
It was the first indication they were good to go.
He had his earbuds in his ears and was waiting for confirmation from The Nerd of what the flicker actually was, the security system was down, when one of the men with him bolted out of the brush toward the house and right into the security perimeter.
This would alert the men inside if it was not yet deactivated.
Terrific.
So these motherfuckers were gung ho.
Core cursed under his breath as the others took that cue and headed up the slope.
He went after them as the automated voice in his ear said, “You’re a go.”
At least there was that.
He ate the distance with his long legs, passing everyone who took off before him.
The guy who went prematurely hit their rendezvous point at the corner of the house, one of the only areas that didn’t have windows, and as they’d planned, he stopped.
Core got to him, lifted an elbow and slammed it full force into his sternum.
The man grunted, flew back and nearly went down.
After he righted himself, Core got in his face.
“When I said I was point, it wasn’t a fucking suggestion,” he snarled.
The man stared at him, fear in his eyes, a bonus to being known as an Angel of Death.
Core didn’t waste any more time.
He led them to a back door, slid it open, then they were inside.
“We’re in,” he whispered to The Nerd, though The Nerd knew this considering they were tracking heat signatures.
Proof of that: the automated voice came back.
“Leader in office. Two in the basement playing a videogame. One in bedroom three, apparently asleep. Out.”
He heard the disconnect.
He took the earbuds out of his ears, shoved them in his pocket and looked to the men.
He pointed at three of them, gave them two fingers, then pointed to the floor, after which he made motions with his hands like he had a game controller.
They moved out.
He pointed at two more, then up, giving them one finger then three, to indicate one man in bedroom three.
They took off.
The other two he gave a nod, extended his forefinger upwards to indicate they were dealing with one man, then he moved with them following him.
They hit the ground floor office swiftly and with zero hesitation, Core first.
The man behind the desk took one look at the three coming in and reached for a gun lying close at hand.
But Core was already there. He’d pulled his knife out of the scabbard at his belt and rammed it through the man’s hand, pinning it to the wood of the desk.
One of his crew had already positioned behind the guy, so he had a rag shoved in his mouth to muffle the scream.
He also held the guy down in his chair.
Not that he was going anywhere with his hand stuck to the desk.
The last guy took the bungee cords loped around his shoulder and made light work of tying the guy to the chair.
Good.
So these fuckers might be gung ho, but when shit needed to get done, they were on it.
Calmly, Core moved to one of the chairs angled in front of the desk.
He folded in, rested against the back, and looked into the man’s eyes.
And then, quietly, he said, “Right. This is how it’s gonna go.”
The thumb he was pressing to the sensor turned it from blue to green.
He dropped the thumb, and the hand, arm and body attached to it thudded to the ground.