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)
Julia Ennis was another story entirely, and she knew damn well something had happened with Julia’s family in the past couple of days. She hadn’t figured out if the incident in London had been a normal tragedy or if it fit into the bigger picture she’d spent months putting together.
But Kyle couldn’t know the information she’d gathered on his ex-fiancée and her family, including Kyle’s bestest bestie, Drake Radcliffe. He couldn’t possibly know that she’d been tracking Drake’s father because she’d begun to suspect he might have had ties to The Consortium before his death. She hadn’t even told Big Tag that yet. Adam knew she had some suspicions, but they’d decided not to accuse the man before they had proof.
“No, but Wade is,” Kyle said in an annoyingly calm tone. “And the fact that the situation has changed means West here should call his supervisor.”
“I don’t see how the situation has changed except that MaeBe kicked your ass. Well, your balls.” West had an arrogant smirk of his own. He was a handsome man with sandy blond hair, green eyes, and a muscular, lean body that should have had her panting if her libido had been functional. “I’m not worried at all about that little darling taking care of you.”
Kyle moved almost faster than her eye could track. One minute he was standing by the bed she’d once hoped they would share, and the next he had a gun to West’s head.
West’s gun.
She had to remember Kyle Hawthorne wasn’t the funny, strangely sweet bodyguard she’d fallen madly in love with. That was a mask he’d worn. Kyle was one of the Agency’s best killers, and here was the proof of it.
“I should definitely give my brother a call.” West didn’t move an inch, and his tone was even, proving he’d learned a lot in the last couple of months. He’d certainly learned how to deal with a predator who had his teeth on his throat.
Kyle backed off, offering West his gun back. “Yes, you should, and consider yourself fired, you dumbass. I heard you were thinking of taking her to Coachella or Burning Man or something. What the fuck kind of bodyguard are you?”
West’s shoulders straightened, and his jaw went tight. “The type who knows she can’t hide forever. She’s a vibrant young woman, and she needs to have a life. I’m not going to hold her down because you weren’t smart enough to care about her.”
“I care about her enough to not want her dead,” Kyle argued. “There is a woman out there who wants to kill her.”
“And I believe that she’ll find Mae way harder to kill than she ever imagined. After all, she took you down pretty easy, from what I can tell.” West’s tone was hard and though he wasn’t moving, she was pretty sure he was steeling himself for something.
The testosterone was flowing now.
“She took me by surprise,” Kyle corrected. “It won’t happen again. Besides, I have no intentions of hurting her. I don’t care about you. From what I can tell you’ve let her run wild.”
“How would you know what he’s done or didn’t do?” She’d made a deal with Tag that she wouldn’t ever ask him about Kyle. He was like Schrödinger’s Cat to MaeBe. Schrödinger’s Kyle. She wasn’t opening that box, so the state of his aliveness or deadness didn’t matter. He could be both for all she cared.
Had Tag been talking to Kyle about her? That hurt more than she would have thought possible, but then she’d imagined Tag would show her the same courtesy he’d shown Kyle.
Blood, it seemed, was still thicker than any water.
Kyle’s expression softened. “I kept up with you, baby. Did you think I would just walk away?”
“Yes. Mostly because that’s exactly what you did. Walk is not the right word. You probably ran since that explosion damn near took me and Boomer out, but you weren’t thinking of us, were you? You were only thinking of making a big bang for Julia.”
“I thought Deke would move faster.” Kyle took a step toward her, one hand coming out. “I would never have hurt you. Baby, you can’t imagine how I felt when I found out what she’d done to you. You shouldn’t have fought her. You should have waited for the team to save you. She wouldn’t have broken your arm if you’d complied.”
Her arm still ached when the weather changed. She’d been told it likely always would. That ache was a reminder that she’d been weak. She moved back so he didn’t touch her. “So it was my fault? I should have done what the kidnapper told me to do and the world would have been a better place?”
West whistled. “Now you stepped in it.”
Kyle’s eyes practically blazed fire. “I mean it. Step out now, Rycroft, or I’ll kick you out. This is between me and Mae, and you don’t have a say in it.”