Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Oh shoot.
She’d overreacted. Again.
“No. There’s no need to apologize. I keep making mistakes, thinking that you might be like them. So I think I’m the one who needs to apologize.”
Something warm filled Regent’s face. He nodded. “I don’t want anyone else to die, Aston.”
“Me neither. I really wish I could help more. I feel like I could make a difference. Do something good.” She turned so she could look at Maxim.
“You don’t need to atone for anything,” he told her.
She wasn’t so sure of that. Even though her brothers might have deserved what she’d done to them, the memories still left her feeling bad.
“Every time someone gets hurt from these drugs, I’m going to feel it on me. It’s going to feel like my fault.”
“It is not your fault.”
“Maybe, but it will feel like it. Most of the time, I was helpless to stop my father and brothers from hurting people. But this time, I can help. Please don’t make me feel helpless again.”
“Aston, you might be able to help in other ways,” Regent said.
She turned to him.
“Is there anyone there that you think could be leaned on? Anyone who might know more? Or is there anywhere you think the drugs could be being held?”
“Gretchen might know more. What if I just met with her? At a public place. I could still tell her my story about you breaking up with me and see if she’ll tell me anything?”
“I don’t know, she’s unlikely to say anything bad about her father,” Maxim said.
Drat. He was right. Gretchen was probably going to remain tight-lipped about it all. If she even knew anything.
“I wonder if the drugs are being stored at one of his worksites,” she said. “The last order for concrete was really off. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, there’s something really odd about the sales Gretchen is making too. The houses are selling for far too much money.”
“Money laundering, perhaps,” Regent said. “How many worksites does Leeds have?”
“Probably over a hundred.”
“It’s a lot,” Regent said. “But we could probably narrow them down. He’d need a big site to hide the drugs, but somewhere he could still get to them easily.”
“I could make a list, help narrow it down.” She could totally do that. “Would that help?”
“It would help a lot, sweetheart,” Regent told her. “Probably more than going in to work.”
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
Relief filled her. All she wanted was to help.
29
“Are you upset with me?” she asked a few hours later. They’d nailed down some more details before eating Gracen’s delicious crepes. Then, Maxim had spent half an hour on the phone convincing his brother, Jardin, that he didn’t need to cut his working holiday short to come home. It seemed to her that Jardin was looking for an excuse to come back early. Apparently, his cousins were a lot to handle.
“Come here.” He patted his lap.
She frowned at him. “I’ll sit here.” There was no way she was sitting on his lap.
He gave her an unhappy look. “Get your butt here and straddle my legs.”
“I’ll hurt you.”
“You’ll be careful.”
Well, of course she’d be careful. But she could still hurt him while trying to be careful.
“Get here. Now.”
Aston very carefully placed her leg over his lap so she was facing him. She didn’t go anywhere near his wound. Or his bruised ribs.
“I’m over this.”
“What?” Her? Was he over her?
“Being injured. Being stuck in this bed,” he grumbled. “Over. It.”
“I didn’t realize you’d be such a bad patient.”
“Well, I am. Baby, I just want to be able to take you into my arms and kiss you. I want to throw you over my knee and spank you until you can’t sit for a week. I want to tie you to the bed and eat your pussy until you can’t walk. That way, you’ll stay where I put you.”
“Stay where you put me?” she asked, outraged.
“Yep. Stay where I put you. Which will be somewhere very safe.”
“I’m not in any danger, Maxim.”
“You were when you came running in to help me. I could have painted a target on your back.”
“Not intentionally. I’m just glad I can help in some way. I wish I could do more.”
“This is important to you,” he murmured. “Helping.”
“Yes, but it’s not more important than you.”
“Fuck, baby. You just earned yourself a whole fucking bunch of orgasms once you’re ready for that.”
She felt herself growing red. “How about you just don’t give me those spankings you say you owe me?”
“Oh no, I’m still giving you those.”
Drat.
“I’m sorry I wouldn’t let you do more, but the idea of you being hurt fucking kills me,” he told her.
“I know. I just hope it’s enough and I can help save people. That feels . . . important. It feels as though my life might have meaning if I can help save even one person from being hurt by those drugs.”