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 was not going to argue with her about this. Not now. There would be plenty of time later. They reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked to West because it was time for him to take the lead. “You keep her here until I make sure the lobby is safe.”
It wasn’t a long trek to where Drake would be waiting, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
He eased out of the stairwell and checked both ways. The lobby was quiet at this time of night. There was only one security guard on watch, and he was fairly certain the old guy napped most of the night. It was one of the reasons he’d intended to talk MaeBe into finding a small house they could afford. Somewhere in the suburbs with a backyard where they could get a dog to go with the cat they would absolutely be adopting. It had to have at least three bedrooms because she would want to turn one of them into a game room. They could host game nights and he could barbecue, and they would be boring and normal.
He’d been planning a life and a family with her and he might have fucked it all up, but then he’d done that a long time ago.
“All right, buddy, don’t move. I’ve got you dead to rights.”
Fuck. He held up his hands. The guy from the elevator must have waited down here, hoping he could pick off MaeBe before the fire department arrived. He didn’t drop the gun though. “I’ve already called 911. Unless you want to explain what you’re doing here, you should leave.”
“I will once I secure the girl,” the deep voice said. “You’re just a bodyguard, man. You don’t want to die for this chick.”
They thought he was Wade. That meant Julia didn’t know he was in Dallas, or he would be a target, too. There would be no “just walk away” speeches for him. Julia’s mercenaries would have been ordered to take him into custody along with MaeBe.
What the hell did Julia want with Mae if she didn’t want to kill her? If Julia wasn’t trying to punish him, then she was likely ready to make a big move and thought having MaeBe in her custody would be leverage to get him to do anything she wanted.
But if she knew he was in Dallas, she would move heaven and earth to kill them both if she could.
“Sure, man.” He had to believe West was listening in and would move MaeBe. “She’s up in her apartment. Feel free to go get her.”
“Drop the gun and turn around.”
He was going to do neither. “I don’t want to see your face. If I don’t see your face, then I can’t say anything. You should hurry or you’re going to miss her. I told her to meet me down here in five minutes. She’ll be easier to catch if you’re waiting on her floor when she comes out.”
“Drop the fucking gun or I’ll take you out here and now,” the man vowed.
He was going to have to move and quickly.
A shot rang out and for a second he was absolutely certain he was a dead man. He turned and watched in shock as MaeBe stepped forward, her gun in hand.
“We should take the body with us and move quickly. The fire department won’t be more than a few minutes away. West, take his feet. I’ll deal with the blood.” MaeBe had shot the man, and she’d done a damn fine job of it. Her brow arched as she stared at Kyle. “You should take the arms.”
He hesitated.
“He was going to kill you. Or he was going to figure out who you are and bring Julia down on all our heads. Hurry and we’ll discuss why she’s making a move now. But we can’t do that if we’re all in custody.”
His head was reeling. MaeBe had shot a man. His sweet Mae had taken down a bad guy.
Because she hadn’t wanted the bad guy to shoot him.
She frowned his way as though she could read his mind. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
She didn’t want him dead. She’d made a split-second decision and that had been to save him.
Not wanting him murdered wasn’t exactly a declaration of love, but it was better than the alternative.
“What’s happening?” a feminine voice asked, and Taylor Cline made her way into the lobby. Drake Radcliffe’s girlfriend was one of the Agency’s smartest operatives and one Kyle felt comfortable watching his back. “We need to…are we taking that with us? Is he one of Julia’s?”
MaeBe walked to the door, stopping to nod Taylor’s way. “I think it’s safe to assume he’s one of Julia’s, and she’s decided it’s time to bring me in. I killed him because I don’t want anyone to know Kyle’s here, and he would have talked. Or perhaps not since he was about to kill Kyle and he wouldn’t want to admit that to the big boss. Now that I think about it, I might have acted hastily. Anyway, where’s the car? In my family the women do the assassinating and the men clean up. At least that’s what Charlotte’s always promised me.”