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)
“That hurt,” Kyle said as he opened the fridge. “But I can’t blame anyone but myself. I’ve been staying at a club, too, but I didn’t play. I did a lot of dishes and learned how to work a fryer. Did you know the oil can actually get into your skin? I used to love the smell of French fries. Now they make me want to shower.”
“No stomping around asking who touched your property?”
“You’re not property, baby. I’m an idiot. A jealous idiot. If you had a relationship or casual sex while I was gone, then that is your right. And now I’m going to take care of you, and hopefully you won’t want anyone else. I meant what I said, Mae. There’s no one but you.”
“And Julia.”
“Until very recently, I hadn’t set eyes on Julia since the day I thought I killed her. I saw her at The Reef that night but it was through a monitor, and I wasn’t sure it was her until…I let her take you.”
“You didn’t let her take me.” She believed him when he said he hadn’t known Jane Adams was Julia until she’d murdered the doctor. “But you could have tried to save me. I think about that, sometimes. I was thinking about it not ten minutes ago. When Jessica Layne kidnapped me, you walked right into what you knew was an ambush to save me. When Julia did it, you nearly killed me to try to get at her. I always wonder what changed in those months. I wonder if it was the sex. If the sex wasn’t as good for you as it was for me, and if that made the difference. It would have been nicer to break up with me.”
His whole body had gone still, color leaching from his face. “You can’t believe that.”
She wasn’t sure why not. “It happened. I nearly died in that explosion. Since you didn’t, then I have to assume you set it on a timer and you knew you would get out.”
“I knew Boomer had you when I started the timer. I knew you would get out. I wouldn’t… Do you honestly believe I would risk your life? The minute I knew it was Julia and that she had you, I knew what I had to do. Can’t you see this whole thing has been about saving you? MaeBe, I love you. I know you’re mad at me and that we should have sat down and talked about it, but there wasn’t time. You can’t know what she’s capable of.”
“I do, though. I know she probably set a bomb off in a small factory in Vietnam, killing fifty children to cover up the fact that one of her high-end employers was using child labor to manufacture cheap goods,” she explained. The numbness was starting to feel tight around her, like if she didn’t pierce it, it might never go away. “I know she poisoned a reservoir in France to make a rival company look like they were flouting environmental regulations there. The company got shut down and a Consortium corporation moved right in. I have a whole list of her sins. I know what she is capable of. She probably kicks a puppy every morning when she rolls out of bed.”
After all, Julia had kicked the shit out of her and she’d pretty much been a puppy. Without thinking about it her right hand moved to massage her left, a soothing habit she had now. Especially when it rained.
“Does it still hurt?” His voice had gone quiet. “I broke my leg during an op once and it still aches from time to time.”
“How do you know she broke my arm? Did you call up Deke and Boomer and get a debrief? Or was it Ian?”
“Ian didn’t talk about you with the singular exception to tell me you were happy with West as your bodyguard and that you were back at Sanctum.”
She’d been back at Sanctum because Ian had ordered her to stay there for the week while he was gone somewhere he didn’t want to talk about. “Did he come to see you?”
Kyle nodded and picked up a cocktail shaker. Sanctum was quiet around them, so the sound of ice sliding into the shaker sort of echoed. Usually she ordered a drink and all she could hear was the thud of music. Now she could hear every movement he made. Like they were the only two people in the world.
It was a dangerous thought because immediately after came another one.
Would it be so bad to use him the way he’d used her? She might not feel so fucking cold if his hands were on her. It didn’t have to mean anything beyond she needed to get this man out of her system so she could move on. She was a different person. This MaeBe wasn’t about to fall for him again.