Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I catch her waist and pull her to me. “You don’t know me well enough yet, or you wouldn’t ask that question.”
“Aaron, Noah, what if we—”
I cup her head and kiss the hell out of her, the way I’ve wanted to for months, the way I plan to for the rest of our lives. “We will. I will. But I can, and will, take you away and hide us away if that becomes necessary. Is that what you need to hear?”
“I don’t know what I need to hear,” she says. “I don’t want to run away from this, but I don’t want to lose you again. I don’t want you to die. I thought you were dead.”
My hands come down on her arms. “And I’m trying to make sure you don’t end up dead.”
“I know that.”
“I don’t think you’re processing the implications of all that’s happened.”
“I am,” she insists.
“Are you? Because these people sent you flowers after I left and made you think they were from me for a reason. Whoever this is, is fucking with us.”
“I get that. I do.”
“They put a hit out on you, baby. That hit doesn’t just go away. It’s got money attached. It’s a lot of money. Assassins will come. They’ll come hard at you and at me.”
She pales. “Is that who those men were back at the cabin?”
“I don’t know. I had to kill them before I could make them talk, and they had no ID on their persons, which means they’re professional. Professionals like me don’t get named.”
She takes a shaky breath and then catches my hips and presses her face to my chest. I capture her face and tilt it to mine. “Talk to me. What are you feeling?”
“Too many things. So damn many things. I can’t turn it off. I can’t do my thing and fix this like I would at the office. You can’t even do your thing and fix this.”
“I can and I will. I need you to trust me. I know after everything that’s happened that it’s difficult, but—”
“I do. I do trust you. I’m just scared and angry, and like I said, there are too many things to deal with right now. I’m on overload. I think I just need sleep. I need food. I need a proper shower and clean clothes.” Her voice lowers. “And I need you.”
“You have me. I’m not leaving you again. I promise you.”
“Until the situation makes it necessary.”
“Never again,” I say. “You have my word.”
“Make me believe it,” she challenges, and I don’t need to be told again. I know what she wants. I know what she needs. It’s what I want and need. I close my mouth down on hers, and I’m back to kissing the hell out of her, and damn, if she’s not kissing the hell out of me, too. I turn her, intending to take her down on the bed when there’s a thundering knock on the door. “We have a problem!” Savage shouts through the door, and with that, I turn Ashley and put her at my back, instinctually placing myself between her and trouble. And, already, I’m striding away from her and toward Savage.
Chapter thirty-four
Aaron
Anticipating the worst—that we’ve been found—I pull my weapon, aim it, and open the door. Savage stands there, not holding his weapon. He arches a brow. “That’s a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?”
“What the hell is the emergency, Savage?”
“I didn’t get your pizza order. Pepperoni or what?”
“What’s the emergency, Savage?”
“I’m fucking hungry, and I need to order before you two get naked and I can’t get your order.”
“Do you know how much I want to kill you right now?” I ask, before holstering my weapon.
His lips quirk. “That would be an interesting matchup, now wouldn’t it? You and me going one-on-one? I’m not sure I’d underestimate me if I were you, but it would make it fun for me if you did.”
There’s jest in his voice, but there is a brutal quality to the look in his eyes that tells me he’s not jesting at all. “What happened to ordering the pizza your way to avoid suspicion?”
“About that. I’m not a creature of habit. I don’t like habits. Habits are predictable. You have the luxury of picking your toppings.”
“Ham and Pineapple,” Ashley calls out, and Savage leans around me and eyes her. “No. Just no. I have to eat this, too, and that is just wrong. Those things do not belong on pizza. Not to mention, ex-mercenaries do not eat fucking pineapple on pizza.”
I step back so that I’m no longer standing between him and Ashley, and I find her sitting on the end of the mattress as she says, “Counter, Savage.”
“Meat lovers,” he says. “I want all the meat.”
“Because you’re a meathead,” I murmur.
Savage winks at me and says, “I’m not fighting until after the pizza, no matter how much you taunt me. It won’t be a fair fight for you. I get cranky when I’m hungry.”