Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Jonah left first, returning to his residency. He only had a few days’ leeway, and his time was up.
Tanner was next, needing to return to the Vancouver home for the family business. I didn’t ask what he did for them. No one offered that information.
Brooke, Kai, and I were left now.
Sitting up in bed, I glanced at the clock. It was a little after four in the morning, but I knew the other side of the bed was empty without looking. Rolling to the edge of the mattress, I tucked the sheet around my naked body.
Kai stood at the window, an arm braced against the wall beside the window frame. He wore sweatpants, which hung low on his hips. The full moon outside bounced off the lake, and I could see every muscle in his shirtless back. The shadows fell over them, gracefully showing me a path along his spine.
I moved to his side, the sheet trailing behind me, and he brought his arm to my waist, tucking me next to him.
“I woke you?”
I rested my head against his shoulder, feeling content and secure. “I don’t know what woke me. What woke you?”
He was still gazing out the window. His hand tightened on my waist for a second. “I never fell asleep.”
Something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
Now he looked down, and I saw regret before he masked it. “I’m going to Milwaukee today.”
We were still tucked in the northern end of Minnesota—only lakes and forest forever.
“You’re driving?”
He shook his head. “There’s a little airport thirty minutes away. We’ll leave from there.”
The moon cast half of him in shadow.
“You and Brooke are going to drive north, back to Vancouver.”
“What? But—”
“It’s safer that way.”
Cord.
The plane accident.
He didn’t want to risk us.
Fine. On that matter. But something else remained.
“I told you I would help with my father. Remember?”
He lifted his head back to the window. His jaw clenched. “We talked about this.”
“Wha—”
“You.” He rounded back to me. “Us. That changed everything.” He pointed to the bed.
I fell quiet. How could my heart plunge in one second and soar in the next?
“He knows I’m alive. I want to see him.”
“I’ll bring him to you.”
“Why are you going to Milwaukee?” I pulled out of his arms and faced him, folding my arms over my chest. The sheet rustled as I adjusted it.
“That’s family business.”
Which meant it wasn’t my business. But I knew better.
“You’re going to deal with my father, aren’t you?”
He began to move away, but I grabbed his pants.
“You can’t do that without me. It’s my right.”
“I said I would bring him to you.”
He didn’t get it. Or maybe he did. Suddenly, it felt so important to be there, to see him, to be the one to walk into a room when he wasn’t expecting me. I wanted to make him feel unbalanced, to have him feel a small portion of the fear he’d put me through, put us through.
“Why are you doing this?” I choked out.
Kai’s hand came to my arm, but I shrugged him off, stepping out of reach.
His tone was apologetic. “There are too many factors up in the air. I need Brooke away from Milwaukee. I need you away from Milwaukee. Your father knows about you. He’s already tried once to get you. I can’t run the risk—”
I shook my head. “This is total bullshit. You never said a word, but I know you caught the guy, whoever he’d embedded in your organization. You wouldn’t have come back to me if you hadn’t. It’s safe for me again. You have a million guards. Your security team is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. You think twenty steps ahead. Don’t tell me it’s unsafe for me there, that you can’t risk me—”
“Because it’s the truth!” He got in my face, backing me up. “I cannot risk you. I won’t. I’ve had my mother taken from me. My brother. I won’t risk anyone else, and I won’t apologize for that. I care about you. Whether it’s rational or not, I won’t chance losing you.”
That stopped me cold.
I was angry, determined, I wanted to fight to go with him, to have my own vengeance, but hearing this, hearing him—I blinked back sudden tears.
He gentled his tone. “If there’s even a chance he could get to you, do you know what I would do?” He moved closer, his hands finding my arms, circling to my back. He pulled me to his chest and tucked my head under his chin. I felt his voice vibrate through his chest. “I would rain hell over everyone connected to your father.”
A shiver went down my back.
“I am not the good guy here. I am everything you’ve ever called me. I’m a murderer. I’m a bastard. I’m ruthless. I’m calculating. I will kill everyone your father holds dear, everyone who has helped your father, and I will relish it.” He pulled back, tipping my head to meet his gaze.