Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“From me? No. From my superiors? We’re working on that.”
“We?”
He frowned. “You do know one of X’s top agents is former FBI?”
I nodded. I’d known that for a while. I hadn’t liked it, but the guy had proved himself loyal to X.
“He and I used to work together. When X realized I was the agent you were after, it made things… easier.”
“So you’re easy now?” Rogue asked.
He glanced at my brother. “I could be.”
Rogue whistled, and Ghost winked at him.
“Leave my brother alone.”
“He checked me out first, and he’s a grown man.”
“I don’t fucking care. You’re not wanted here.”
“I get that, but unfortunately for you, I’m needed here.”
“We killed an agent. Are you saying you don’t care about that?”
“Brandon’s death is the last thing anyone is going to care about. You solved a problem for us.”
“Wow. That’s fucking cold,” Rogue said.
Ghost shrugged. “It’s the truth.” He looked at me again. “Do we have a deal?”
“You think I’m stupid enough to agree to anything with one of you without very clear parameters.”
“One of us government servants, you mean?”
I scowled at him.
“Why don’t we find a more private place to discuss those parameters.”
“No,” Jacob said. “You shouldn’t agree to be alone with him.”
Ghost grinned. “I swear I won’t kill him unless he tries to kill me first.”
“Keep looking at Jacob like that, and I won’t just try, I’ll succeed.”
“So violent.”
I sighed. “What do you really want?”
“Information about the Carlottis and their contacts in Houston.”
“And you think I know that?”
He nodded. “I do.”
I was fooling myself if I thought he didn’t know my background. “Fine. I’ll talk to you, but you better have something valuable for me.”
“I do. I have names and info on their successors.”
When we finished our negotiations, Jacob and my brothers were in the kitchen, and Jacob was kneading the hell out of some bread dough.
“He needed something to do,” Rhys said, keeping his voice low so Jacob wouldn’t overhear him.
Rogue looked us both up and down. “Looks like you didn’t kill each other after all.”
I glared at Ghost. “There’s still plenty of time for that.”
“Is everything okay?” Jacob asked pausing to let the poor dough rest.
“Everything is fine.” It wasn’t, but Jacob didn’t need anything else to worry about right then.
“Did he come through with something useful?” Rhys inclined his head toward Ghost.
He’d told me plenty, and most of it had only made me more anxious than I’d been. “Yes. We’ll talk later. First, I need to escort Agent Ghost off our property.”
“We could put him to work,” Rogue suggested. “Or throw him in with Evan.”
Before I’d learned exactly who was taking over the Carlottis’ former empire, I would have laughed or even considered those suggestions but not now. “I talked to X. We need to give him Evan and get them the hell out of here. There’s more trouble brewing.”
Jacob looked back up. “From the FBI?”
“No. Not this time.”
Ghost laid a hand on my shoulder. “I meant what I said. I’ll help if I can.”
I held his gaze. My instincts told me he was sincere, but how the hell could I work with the FBI and the criminals at the same time. X seemed to manage just fine, but when you’re that rich, you can manage anything.
I left Rogue with Jacob. TJ and Rhys collected Evan and brought him to Ghost’s vehicle, which he’d camouflaged well. “I thought all you fucking G-men drove black sedans.”
He rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a movie.”
“At least you haven’t lost any of your talents.”
“Same.”
I gave him a funny look.
“You know what a natural leader you are. You owned that room. Everyone in there was ready to do your bidding.”
“Not you.”
“I did in the end, didn’t I?”
I held out my hand to him. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” He handed me a card. “Use this number if you need me.”
“And admit to my criminal involvement on record? Hell no.”
“It’s private. I only use it for black ops.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What exactly do you do?”
“I clean up messes that never should have been made.”
TJ, Rhys, and I watched Ghost and a ranting Evan drive away. At least in a car, Ghost couldn’t disappear on me so easily.
“What else is going on?” Rhys asked once the car headed around a curve.
“The Russos are the ones taking over the Carlottis’ business.”
“Fuck.”
“They’re the bastards you used to work for,” TJ said. It wasn’t a question.
“I didn’t—”
“Your father worked for them.”
“And we were forced to,” Rhys said.
I never wanted to admit that. I’d only done what I’d had to do to keep my brothers safe.
“And it’s even more personal now.” Rhys looked at me.
TJ would have to know if he was going to help us keep Jacob safe. “Trey took advantage of Jacob, basically holding him prisoner until Rogue helped him escape. That’s why he’s here.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Rhys said.