Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35194 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
“Thank you, Ringo. Thanks for believing me and bringing me to Dominic. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if I couldn’t get in.”
“I knew you the second I got a good look at you. Dom showed me pictures of you as soon as he got them. He’s always been very proud of you. Broke his heart when he heard about your mother. He wanted to go after you, but he knew Tina had married and that the man you were staying with was the only father you’d ever known. No one turned up anything on Illivitch, but I don’t think Crush or Byte dug too deeply. They knew you were safe, at least, at the time. They had measures in place to alert them if you were in extreme danger. But this? If they’d’ve turned up anything like the selling of young women, they’d have told Rocket and Dom immediately. We’d have come for you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. None of you know me. Dominic doesn’t know me. All he has are pictures sent to him by a dead woman.”
“You have the same expressions he does sometimes,” I pointed out. “I saw how you dealt with Redwood. You’re your father’s daughter. Anyone not blind can see it.”
She nodded at me once. “Thank you. If my mom was to be believed and not just giving me a reason to not hate him, Dominic was always a brave man, serving his country and protecting all of us.”
“That pretty much sums up Dom. Though, he no longer works for the government officially.” I shrugged. “Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.”
She nodded again, then disappeared into the bathroom.
I leaned back against the wall. It was all I could do to keep my legs underneath me. This girl had the power to bring me to my knees with a fucking look. “God, I’m so fucked,” I muttered to myself.
With a grunt, I moved to the table to check out what the women had brought up. Leftover brisket, potato salad, baked beans, and biscuits. There was an assortment of fruits and a vegetable tray, both with dip. They’d also brought a single cup coffeepot as well as an assortment of juices and sodas. Of course, Dom already had beer. No coffee pot of his own, but a whole fridge full of beer. I found it amusing the women knew this about Dom and came prepared.
I put the warm dishes in the oven on a low temperature, just to keep it all warm until she was ready to come out.
Twenty minutes later, she did. She was dressed in men’s lounge pants and a T-shirt, both of which looked all too familiar. The sight of her in my clothes was a little bit more than I could bear. Because all I could think about now was stripping them off her. How the fuck Lemon ended up bringing my clothes I had no idea, but I was sure it was a conspiracy.
The shirt came down to mid-thigh and slid off one slim shoulder. She wasn’t wearing a bra that I could tell. She was slight and my shirt was at least four or five sizes too big, but there was no strap over that creamy shoulder. I was pretty sure I saw a nipple tenting the cotton when she moved. Though the pants were several sizes too big, she’d rolled up the bottoms so they clung to her ankles. Her hair was wet, but she brushed out what I now saw were long, curly strands of silk that rolled gently down her back to the curve of her ass.
“Sweet Jesus.” I must have whispered it out loud because Calista stopped and looked in my direction. I scrubbed a hand over my mouth. Try as I might, though, I couldn’t look away from her. There was nothing remotely sexy about the way she looked, but I’ll be Goddamned if my dick wasn’t hard as a motherfucker now.
She studied me for a moment, then took a careful step toward the table, never taking her eyes off me. I probably looked exactly like what I was: a predator who’d found his prey.
Calista sat at the table and picked up the bottle of water I’d left out and removed the cap. Never taking her eyes from me, she took a long pull… Until her thirst overrode her trepidation.
The water was cold and, even though I knew she’d likely drunk while she was in the bathroom, there was nothing quite like an ice-cold bottle of water to quench a thirst. Her eyes slipped shut, and she groaned as she gulped down the water.
“Christ,” I muttered again. “You’re gonna be the death of me, baby girl.”
I went to the oven and took out the food Apple had brought, setting everything on the table. “I know it’s not breakfast food, but it’s something.” I got the fruit and veggies out of the fridge, too. “If there isn’t anything here you want, I’ll go down and snag some breakfast. Apple’s made it her mission to feed everyone while she’s here and, I have to admit, the girl ain’t a bad cook.”