Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Suddenly salvaging his relationship with Taylor seemed like the most important thing in the world.
“Could you two be serious for a minute?” Brad’s gaze went back and forth between the two of them. He was all business this morning. He’d set up in the conference room, and he’d barely looked up from his computer. “If Taggart isn’t satisfied with this plan of Taylor’s, we’re going to have to find another team to work with, and given the fact that we’re running out of time, I suggest we make the best presentation we can.”
“Like Tag’s going to say no. He’s not, so we can all stop treating this like a royal visit.” The last thing he needed was Taggart walking in like he owned the place. He didn’t. At least he was pretty sure he didn’t. Big Tag could make investments in people he liked, and Sandra fit that bill.
Shit. He probably did own part of this place. But that didn’t mean the man got to run his op. He was a contractor on this op, and not even a close one as the men who were working with them were former employees.
It was all complex and shitty, and what he really wanted to do was track down Taylor and talk to her some more. If he talked to her he could soften her up, tell the truth about how he’d felt back then and how he was feeling now. She’d soaked that up.
Turned out honesty and vulnerability did work. At least they’d seemed to be working.
Then she’d retreated, and he hadn’t seen her for a couple of hours now. She was likely talking to Solo about ditching the op altogether and finding all kinds of new and dangerous ways to get revenge for her father’s death. Drake had been astonished at the truth about Lev Sokolov. He’d known Lev had no longer been working for the Agency, and he’d believed the rumors about the man. The truth had only been in Sokolov’s records and those were classified above Drake’s paygrade. If he hadn’t been attached to this op, he would never have known Taylor’s father hadn’t been a double. “We’re sure Lev is dead?”
“We went over this. As sure as we can be. He looked dead, and they did an autopsy and everything,” Brad replied. “But then there’s an autopsy record on this guy here, and he’s looking pretty lively.”
Kyle sent Brad his middle finger and went back to staring out the window at the long drive that led from the highway to the bar’s parking lot. The Cowgirl’s Choice was set back from the highway, though there was no way to miss the big neon sign that lit up the night. It was a pink and blue and green monstrosity of a cowgirl riding a bull. Mastering a bull was more like it.
Sandra did enjoy a heavy metaphor.
“From everything I understand Lev loved his daughter. He wouldn’t have faked his death and left her to the wolves,” Kyle said, not looking up. “And don’t say that’s what I did to MaeBe. I was getting the wolf off her back, and I left her with people who will protect her. She’s doing okay.”
He knew because he was talking to her online. Oh, he used a voice modifier to do it, but the asshole was literally catfishing the woman he’d tried to convince he was dead. That was not going to go well for him. “Do you talk to her about you?”
Kyle turned slightly, a brow rising as though he didn’t like the accusation. “We talk about her life, and she’s going through a healing process.”
“Wait, so you blew up a house that you were supposed to be in, left this woman you care about, and now you’re pretending to be someone else so you can talk her through her breakup. Her breakup with you?” Brad seemed to grasp the situation, though it was obvious he was confused. “And you did all of this because Julia hates her?”
“Julia doesn’t hate her. That’s where everyone gets it wrong. Julia doesn’t feel much of anything. She’s a sociopath who’s excellent at pretending to be a real girl,” Kyle explained. “By taking myself out of MaeBe’s life, she won’t have a reason to go after her.”
“Or you left her without protection and Julia will use her as bait to get to you,” Drake pointed out. He knew how his sister worked. She would consider MaeBe a pawn and wouldn’t mind sacrificing her to get to the king she wanted. Julia had decided Kyle was the man for her, and she would get what she wanted or burn the world down.
That was what he hadn’t understood before. He’d known Julia could be obsessive and a bit selfish, but she could also be fierce when it came to the people she loved. Except it wasn’t love. It was ownership. It was possession. Julia would never sacrifice for someone she “loved.” It simply wouldn’t occur to her.