Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
She tilted her head and raised a brow, her lips pursing as if she were annoyed by his intrusion.
Fucking incredible.
He turned his gaze to Boones and spoke in Tigrayit. “I don’t need love, you meddling old fuck.”
“Idiot,” Boones said in the same language. “You need it more than ever now that you have brain damage.”
“You said the injuries didn’t damage my brain.”
“I changed my mind.”
Irritation slithered beneath his skin. He switched to English. “Tell her what happened after I watched my family die.”
Boones bit down on his thin lips. He didn’t like this part.
“That’s okay.” Kate patted Boones’ arm. “I have a pretty good idea.”
“I don’t think you do.” Tiago paced around the table, his hands clasped behind him. “I killed everyone involved. Those who coordinated the attack on my family and everyone associated with those people. I murdered handlers, operatives, and officials, which put me on wanted lists for multiple countries and all the three-letter agencies.”
Her face paled.
“I didn’t just walk away from my job.” He paused beside her and leaned down, gripping the edge of the table. “I went rogue, killed a bunch of important people, and took Boones and his family down with me.”
“Don’t you start on that.” Boones stood and pointed a finger at Tiago. “We demanded to go with you.”
“I shouldn’t have allowed it.” He’d ruined their lives, tainted their gentle souls with his filth.
Boones slammed a fist against the tabletop, his body stiff with rage as he turned to Kate. “I was as close to his father as he was. We were all close, his family, my family. The day they died, we all changed. My brothers and I needed revenge just as badly as Tiago. That’s why we went with him.” His accent thickened, vibrating with vehemence. “We followed him from city to city, waited as he took each life, and patched up his broken bones and wounds. Then we followed him here to Venezuela.” He cut his eyes to Tiago, the white scars on his cheeks glowing against his black skin. “I made my own choices. You don’t get to take credit for my crimes.”
He gave Boones a tight nod, willing to give the man anything he wanted. The last twelve years had been painful for both of them.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” Kate glanced from Boones to him and squared her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to open old wounds.”
“Don’t worry about that. Tiago has been opening a lot of wounds lately.” Boones pointed his cloudy eyes at the cuts he’d treated on Tiago’s arm two weeks ago.
Tiago hadn’t touched his razor since then, but he wanted to. He longed to draw blood, fantasized about it constantly, and it wasn’t his flesh he imagined cutting.
His gaze shifted to hers, and his groin tightened.
Boones ambled toward him, obstructing his view of blue eyes and flawless skin.
A bony hand gripped Tiago’s neck and dug in with surprising strength. “Let her see you,” Boones said in Tigrayit. “All of you. Even if it invites her pity. Then she can decide whether to love you. And you’ll know if she’s worthy of the man in here.” He tapped Tiago on the chest.
His hackles bristled. “Semira was worthy. She was just ambitious, focused on her career. She was a good woman.”
“I loved my daughter, but she wasn’t good for you.”
With that, Boones left the kitchen and slipped out the front door.
“I’m willing to bet some of that exchange was about me.” Kate rose from the table and gathered the dishes from lunch. “It’s rude to talk about people in a language they don’t understand.”
“Leave that.” He snatched the platters from her and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
Ignoring his command, she walked past him and headed for the sink. “I figured out why there are no mirrors upstairs.”
He caught a fistful of her hair and yanked her around. He wanted to look into her eyes while she called him out on his shit. “Tell me.”
“You hate your reflection.” She jerked in his hold, swinging and kicking until he released her. “Not your appearance. You know how damn…” She growled and waved a flippant hand in his direction. “You’re ridiculously good-looking. It’s not that. You don’t like what you see in your eyes. The cruelty. The hypocrisy. Your family was murdered, and what did you do? You went to Caracas and became a kidnapper and murderer. Your cold eyes are windows into that hell, and I have to stare into them every time you fuck me. Because you hold my head and make me look and…” She spun away, fists clenched at her sides. “You’re pure evil.”
Fucking Christ, she was fiery today, itching for a fight.
There were no guards around to witness her disrespect, so he let her continue the rampage, because she wasn’t wrong.
She stormed to the sink, clanked a few pots around, and charged back. “And another thing. I’m over the whole mine declaration. That’s something an insecure guy says to a girl when he doesn’t want her fucking other guys. When you say it to the woman you abducted, it’s psychological warfare. Not sexy.”