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)
“Then you make sure it’s not you.” MaeBe wiped the tears from her cheeks, obviously steeling herself. “You need to ensure that she’s gone this time and that no one can use you or anyone else like that again. Whatever Radcliffe put in that file has to be something we can use to take The Consortium apart.”
He believed that, too. But the thought of MaeBe getting involved… He forced the fear aside. “Are you ready for this?”
She nodded. “I am. I’ve been preparing for this the whole time you’ve been gone. Your uncle thinks I’m ready. If you need me to…”
He wasn’t about to make her prove anything. “No. I don’t need proof. I trust you. But I need you to understand that you’re the junior operative. You have to follow my instructions in the field.”
“I get that. And I also get that I’ll be behind a computer most of the time.” For once she sounded excited.
There was a knock on the door and Yasmin stuck her head in.
“Hey, I heard you were in here,” Yasmin said. “Uhm, there’s a woman on the line looking for you. I thought no one was supposed to know where you are.”
A chill went up his spine.
“Yasmin, I’m going to need you to try to trace the caller. Hutch has protocols in place.” MaeBe stood and looked cool and competent. “Tell her you’re transferring her.”
What was Mae doing? “Or she could say I’m not here.”
MaeBe shook her head. “Julia knows exactly where you are. I don’t want to lose a chance to get a possible location for her. I want to know if she’s here in Dallas. If you wonder how you can start making me feel safe around you, start trusting me. Start by letting me have a say in this.”
He didn’t want to. He hated the fact that she knew his shame. The last thing he wanted was to have her listen to him talk to Julia. “She told Drake I should expect a call from her and that I better answer. I haven’t been in a place where she could get hold of me. I suspect that’s why she tried to hurt you. It was a message to me. See.”
That brat’s eyes actually rolled. “Yes, you control the world and everyone in it. When did you become such a broody boy? I always thought I would love a broody vampire. Now I realize how obnoxious that would be. Thanks for ruining paranormal romance for me. Yas, we’ll take the call in here, and don’t forget to start that program.”
Yasmin hurried back to her desk.
And Kyle got ready to face his biggest mistake.
* * * *
The landline on Ian’s desk buzzed, and a weird thrill went through MaeBe.
She’d been wanting to face this particular bad guy for a long time. That was where that excitement was coming from. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was going to be working with Kyle, and he seemed to actually be trying.
She’d listened to his story and realized they had a lot in common. Neither of them had really gotten over what happened in the past.
Could they work through it together?
Did she even want to try?
Kyle’s jaw was tight as he reached out to push the button that connected the call to the speaker. “This is Hawthorne.”
A sigh came over the line. “Do you have any idea how good it is to hear your voice?”
The woman sounded like this was an ordinary call between two people in a relationship.
She needed to stop thinking about Kyle as the asshole who hurt her and start thinking about the fact that he’d been in an abusive relationship, one where his partner had manipulated him into doing things he would regret for the rest of his life.
And yet he’d never questioned MaeBe. He’d never worried she was doing something she shouldn’t. He’d been a complete freak about her getting potentially hurt, but he hadn’t watched her carefully.
“I wish we could say the same,” MaeBe replied because she wasn’t going to let Kyle deal with her. She remembered well how he’d handled that damn lawyer asshole. He wouldn’t have sat by and forced her to negotiate with him. “What do you want, Julia?”
There was a pause before Julia answered, all the sweetness stripped from her tone. “Well, we could start with you leaving so I can talk to my fiancé.”
Kyle stood and started to pace, a blank expression on his face.
“Not happening, and just so we’re all clear on this, he is not your fiancé. He is my boyfriend, and I’m going to ask you to leave him alone.”
A low chuckle came over the line. “Did kitty finally decide to sharpen her claws?”
She hoped Hutch’s program was working its magic. “I took your advice and got some training.”