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)
He finishes pulling on his boots before he crosses to stand in front of me, cupping my face. “I hope you really mean that, I am who I am, and I’ve done what I’ve done. I can’t change those things.”
“Then why did you decide to hate yourself because of those things?”
“I didn’t. I just thought you would.”
“I don’t hate you,” I say. “I love you.”
He studies me again, the way he had before Savage had interrupted, like he really wants to believe me, but somewhere in my eyes, he thinks he’ll find the truth. He thinks he’ll find hate and fear. “Aaron—”
“I’m not going to leave. I’m not going to save you from me, Ashley. I can’t leave you behind. I just hope like hell we don’t both regret my decision.”
My chest knifes with pain. “Why would you regret that decision?”
“Because I can survive every damn assassin that might ever be sent to kill me, baby, without fear. But the day I wake up and see hate in your eyes, I’m a dead man.” He presses his lips to mine hard and fast. “Let’s go deal with Savage and his surprise.” He reaches for his gun.
“Maybe you should leave that behind?” I suggest.
“Then how will I kill him if he pisses me off again?”
Chapter thirty-eight
Aaron
Ashley and I find Savage at the island stuffing his face with pizza, which would be expected if he was alone. He’s not. Blake and Smith are standing there with him and that’s a deal changer for me. “We’re leaving,” I say, catching Ashley’s arm. “Now.” I start walking.
“Give us some fucking credit for being able to get inside an apartment without being seen,” Blake calls after us, while Ashley bites out a low, “Aaron, please.”
I turn to face the whole damn clusterfuck of Walker Security good boys, who do really bad things. “My kind make your kind look like amateurs.”
“Then why do your kind call me to help them all the fucking time?” Blake challenges. “I’m the guy who finds all the stupid ways your people overlook the obvious.”
“And those people you deal with,” I say, “that you trust, are not trustworthy. Your connections are why we’re here right now, with everything we traveled with in ashes.”
“I’m not that stupid, man,” Blakes snaps. “And I found Mick.”
I tug Ashley back around to face Blake and his men. “Where is he?”
“A residential location uptown. Him and a gaggle of armed men.”
I release Ashley and step to the island, with her following me, to stand with Blake across from me, Savage to my left, and of course, Smith on her right. He speaks to Ashley, and I tune out that conversation and my urge to shake him. I need to protect my woman from a mass of killers. Not the asshole who wants to fuck her. I’ll deal with that asshole later. “How do you know this?” I ask, focusing on Blake.
“I’m a hacker, man,” Blake replies. “You have no idea how many ways I can find you.”
He’s wrong. I do. “The question is how did they find us?”
“I backed into their activity for the past twenty-four hours, and I can’t even find a reference to you or Ashley. They already knew you were here. They picked you up before you got here.”
I press my hands to the island and consider that. “We were attacked back in Colorado. I thought I killed them all. Obviously, I left someone alive. Not a problem I usually have.”
“Emotional involvement is a good and bad thing,” Blake says. “It reminds you that you’re human in both ways. In my case, it got my fiancée killed. Take the help we’re offering. Keep Ashley alive.”
Ashley’s hand comes down on mine, and I cut my stare to look at her. “Trust. I trust you. Trust me and trust them.”
I stare at her, those beautiful plump pink lips, her high cheeks. Her piercing green eyes. I love this woman. I will not let her end up dead. I will not let my life destroy her life. I cut my stare and look at Blake. “There’s only one thing keeping me from going to that house and killing Mick and everyone there. He’s the traitor to his country. I am not going to run my entire life because he set me up, and he did. I have no doubt. I need proof that I don’t have.” I grimace. “Fuck it. I’m going to kill them all. Then they can’t kill Ashley. I need the address.”
“You think you can kill them all alone?” Savage asks. “Really, man?”
“I know I can,” I say. “Which you should consider the next time you piss me the fuck off, which is pretty much every time you open your damn mouth.”
“I’m not giving you shit this time,” Savage says. “I’m making sure, you’re sure.”