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)
Suddenly she was surrounded by friends, and the world didn’t seem so dark. It might be a mistake, but it was time to start making those again.
It was time to start living again.
“I’m sure. And Boomer, there better be some veggies on those pizzas.”
Kyle went off to invite their new friends. And for the first time since he’d left, she felt a bit like herself again.
It felt damn good.
Chapter Fourteen
Two hours later Julia was still pissed, still staring at the phone and wishing she wasn’t a continent away.
The little bitch had hung up on her.
It was obvious that Mae Beatrice Vaughn had not heeded her warnings. She remembered how good it had felt to break that sad girl’s arm when she’d doubled down on defiance. She’d been fucking with Mae since the moment she’d realized Kyle was using her as a replacement. She wanted to use the word placeholder, but it was time to get real with herself.
Kyle was scared, and that fear of her was coming out as anger. He wasn’t playing games. He was serious, and that meant it was time to get serious about the woman who was standing in her way.
The question was how. How seriously should she take the threat? The Taggarts wouldn’t want to lose their business over what was basically a lover’s spat.
Sometimes in life one had to bluff, and sometimes that bluff had to be called.
She picked up her cell and called the only man in the damn world she could actually count on. Well, mostly. He’d fucked up the first plan, but then they hadn’t realized at the time that Kyle would be there. Had she merely been protected by that West Rycroft person, MaeBe Vaughn wouldn’t be so arrogant. She would be all tortured, and Kyle would likely be on his way to “saving” her.
It might be time to simply take what she wanted. The question was how to bait the trap. He wouldn’t walk into it for nothing, and she couldn’t risk Kyle getting hurt.
“This is John.”
“How many men do you have left? You lost one, right?” She’d sort of read the report he’d sent. She’d had other things to worry about. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a job. Chasing after Kyle was merely a hobby, and since that day when she’d been forced to kill her father, her position was a tenuous one.
She had to prove herself all over again and that rankled.
“I still have three mercenaries. I lost the other John,” he stated flatly.
Johns stuck together, apparently. Bros before hos and all that. “Is there a problem?”
A long sigh came over the line. “No. Of course not. He was sloppy. I just wish we hadn’t lost him on a side job, that’s all.”
“You know why it’s important. It’s not all about Kyle.” She had to balance a careful line with him. John had been servicing her physical needs for a long time now. It was inevitable he would get jealous. “It’s about finding those files my father left behind. It’s about taking back my place in the group. Once I find that intel of my father’s, I’ll be in a position to move forward with the board.”
If what she suspected was in that file, she might be able to take over the whole fucking thing. Her father had been a cautious man. He’d kept the data as leverage in case someone decided to push him out.
She intended to be bolder. She intended to take over. That would be good for John.
Until she killed him because he knew too much. He’d been an excellent assistant/guard/living vibrator, but all good things came to an end and when Kyle was back in his place she didn’t intend to dishonor the vows they’d made when he’d asked her to marry him. She would forgive him the pudgy hacker and in return she would get rid of John so Kyle never had to worry that she might cheat.
But she needed him for now.
“I understand,” came the half-hearted reply. “You think your brother is going to find it first, and you need something to ensure that he turns it over to you instead. MaeBe Vaughn is a much better target than Taylor Cline.”
Her brother’s girlfriend was a lying bitch who was also quite capable of handling herself in a fight. Taylor had been working a years’ long op to infiltrate The Consortium that would have worked if Julia hadn’t been involved. At least that was the way Julia had presented it to the board. “No, I don’t particularly want to tangle with her in a personal sense. If you need to kill her, do it from a distance. It would be better to do it after we get the files. I think my brother could prove vengeful if something happened before. Are they all together? I know Kyle is at his uncle’s office.”