Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Five of them?” Vienna straightened wearily and shook out her arms. Rainier was older than Zale. Not by much, but he was still older and he hadn’t slowed down at all. According to Zale, Rainier was used to working alone. It was abundantly clear he was an authority and didn’t take orders. He was used to giving them.
“We’re alive, Vienna. Zale is alive. That’s how the game works.”
She gathered up the bloody bandages, dragging everything into a bag and then peeling off her gloves. “That’s just it, Rainier. It isn’t a game. Zale’s asking me to commit my life to his. If he wants that, he can’t treat his work as if it’s some kind of game, because if you lose, it’s permanent, isn’t it?” She didn’t look at him, she just took her medical kit, the used instruments and the bag of garbage to dispose of properly as she left the room.
The moment she entered the large living room, she felt everyone’s eyes on her. Shabina was no longer sitting on the floor. She’d gone into the kitchen with Zahra. Vienna could see them easily through the large, open archways. The equipment had been put away, other than Shabina’s, which was sitting against the wall just outside the room Vienna had been treating Rainier in. Zale narrowed his eyes, his gaze jumping to hers, but she ignored him and went straight to the guest bath to wash her hands.
Every single bone in her body ached. She wondered if Raine and Shabina felt the same way. When she emerged, Raine had curled up in one of the more comfortable chairs in the living room, but she didn’t have her ever-present computer on her lap, which worried Vienna. She went to her.
“How are you feeling, honey?”
Raine looked up and gave her a wan smile. “My head is killing me. You know I tend to get migraines sometimes, and right now one is pushing at me.” She glanced at Stella, who was carrying on an animated conversation with Harlow as they mixed a large salad together. “I’m not going to ruin Stella’s bridal party. She never asks for anything.”
“You need to go lie down. I know you have medication for that. We have a day tomorrow to do nothing but relax before we go kayaking. If you take care of it now, that gives you plenty of time for it to go away.”
“I thought I should eat before I take the meds. They’re heavy duty, but I’m feeling sick.”
Instant alarm bells went off. “You could have a concussion. We should take you to the hospital as a precaution, Raine.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Rainier was back in the room, seated in a chair where he could watch those working in the kitchen as well as Raine, the front entrance and anyone moving around through most of the open floor plan. Both men were listening to her conversation with Raine.
“What happened, Vienna?” Zale demanded. This time he used that low, commanding, no-nonsense purr. He wanted to know, and he expected her to tell him. “Raine is obviously injured. I can see that you’re hurt.”
“And so is Shabina,” Rainier added. “Just like you, she’s moving gingerly. And when she came in, she was very distraught. All of you were, but she’s very controlled. She acted out of character.”
Shabina looked up swiftly from where she was preparing the meal in the Instant Pot. Her eyes met his. Shabina had unusually colored blue eyes. Right now, liquid made them even more royal blue than usual. Her long lashes feathered down, covering the brightness, and she looked down again.
Vienna wanted to strangle Rainier and his cold observations. “Don’t think you know us because you read about us in some report,” she snapped. She did hurt all over. She was at her limit trying to be nice to the two of them. “Zale, how bad is your wound, and tell me the truth. Don’t be stoic, because I’m not in the mood.”
“I told you I took care of it, and I did.” His eyes narrowed on her. “Snowflake, tell us what happened.”
“Whoever tried to kill you kept coming after you. They rigged your truck,” she said tersely, and turned her back on him. “Raine, are you certain you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“No, I don’t have a concussion. I wasn’t feeling sick until the headache started becoming worse. I have all the signs of one of my migraines. I’ll take the meds to stop it. It’s just missing out on Shabina’s cooking.” She gave an exaggerated sigh.
Shabina glanced up with a small smile and continued her prep.
“Rigged the truck how?” Zale persisted.
“No brakes, no steering, lights going out. Pretty much making certain if you were driving the speed limit you were going to get in a nasty accident. We crashed. Fortunately, we weren’t going very fast. As it was, we didn’t roll the truck. The airbags didn’t deploy either. Raine and Shabina were with me. Stella and the others were behind us. We’d alerted them to back off when we realized something was wrong.”