Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
He stood in the darkest corner of her room as the door opened and he got his first look at her. She’d changed her hair color. It was brown now, and he hated that it wasn’t some crazy, not-to-be-found-in-nature hue. She’d dimmed her light, and she’d had to do it for him.
He would bring it all back, work hard to give her the life she deserved.
He would be worthy of all the love and trust she’d shown him in the past. His stupid heart actually clenched at the sight of her. She’d lost weight, likely because she was so worried.
She stopped, and her whole body stiffened.
He stepped out of the shadows. “Hello, MaeBe.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Kyle. Death seems to have been good to you. Why are you here?”
She was mad. He understood that. “You know why I’m here. I shouldn’t have left you the way I did. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry? Sorry about what? Sorry you promised me the world and then didn’t bother to tell me you weren’t dead? I understand that. You worked hard to get away from me. I’ve never had a man fake his own death before. It was a lot. All you had to say was ‘Hey MaeBe, I think we’re more like friends than boyfriend/girlfriend.’ You’re forgiven. You can leave now, and don’t break into my apartment again.”
Now he was confused. “I didn’t fake my death to break up with you.” He moved into her space. He needed to get his arms around her, to show her they were both okay. He put his hands on her shoulders. “I did it to protect you.”
Her head tilted toward him and then she moved, bringing her knee up.
He should have listened to Drake and protected his balls.
Pain exploded in his body, and he dropped to his knees.
“You can leave, Kyle.” She stood over him, hands on her hips, and he could see the newly honed muscles in her arms. She’d been working out hard. “As you can see I can protect myself now.”
That was the moment he realized she’d pulled a gun on him.
He closed his eyes and wondered how the hell they’d gotten here.
Part One
How they got here…
Chapter One
Dallas, TX
Eighteen months before
Kyle Hawthorne stood outside the doors to McKay-Taggart Security Services and thought seriously about running.
He wouldn’t run, exactly. He would walk away with the restraint and control he’d learned over the last several years, but the truth was no matter how slow he went he would be running.
But then hadn’t he been running for a long time now?
Those doors were so familiar. The floor-to-ceiling glass with its elegantly etched words hadn’t changed since his Aunt Charlotte had redone the office when he’d been in college. He’d worked here the summer she’d overseen the renovation. The summer of chaos, as he and his brother had called it. They’d both been in college, and working for their uncle and aunt had been an excellent way to make some money and avoid working for their stepdad. Not that they didn’t love Sean Taggart, but the kitchen had been rough work in the beginning. It had been way more fun to watch Uncle Ian go slowly insane as his utilitarian office was transformed into something designer and chic.
Damn, but the world had been different then.
No. The world hadn’t been different. It had been him.
He heard the ding of the elevator and prayed it wasn’t anyone he knew. He still had time. He could turn and get on that elevator and walk out into the world and never be seen again.
He could call Drake and tell him to fuck himself and the whole Agency. He could reject this whole forced sabbatical and go mercenary. There were lots of groups who would love to put his ass on the payroll and let him take out all his anger in the most violent of ways.
His stomach rolled at the thought.
He could still see the blood on his hands. Julia’s blood. Still see the surprised look in her eyes as she’d realized he’d been the one to pull the trigger, and then an oddly excited light had come into her eyes.
Oh, you want to play, lover? I think I’ll like this game. You’re mine, Kyle Hawthorne. No little bullet is going to stop me.
It hadn’t been a bullet that truly stopped her. It had taken an explosion and a whole house coming down on her to end that wicked witch’s life.
Of course once he’d thought she was his future. He’d been a fucking moron, and many, many people had suffered.
“Do you think he’s going to kill you? I know the man seems scary but he’s not. The key with Big Tag is to give as good as you get. Like fight his sarcasm with sarcasm. When he asks how my broom ride in was, I smile and ask him if he rode in on the back of a brontosaurus from his age. I know that sounds harsh, but it made him laugh, and now we’re cool. I spent the first couple of weeks terrified by him, thinking he was this big bully, but he’s actually the sweetest guy.”