Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
She tensed. “Not together?”
“No. I need to take care of a few things at my place, and I’m sure the bosses have some…words for me before I head out for three months.”
“How will they do without you and Ethan for that long? I know you’re usually busy on missions, and…they’re just letting you two do this work for months? Ahead of your other clients.”
“They’re not stupid. First, Todd is paying double our going rate. Second, they know that if they don’t let me keep you safe and fight for what’s mine, I’ll quit. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but a few years back they lost two of their best operatives to the women they married. So Hunter, Logan, and Joaquin aren’t eager to lose more guys who get shit done and run clean ops. And I made it clear that if they don’t let me put you first, I will walk. I’m not letting you go again.”
“And Ethan?”
A smirk crept across his face. “I didn’t say the bosses intended to make this easy on me.”
She turned to him with her heart in her eyes. More questions floated through her head, but she pushed aside all her worries to share one of these last precious moments alone with Matt.
Then Jack Cole pulled up in his pontoon boat, wearing a ball cap, a tank that showed off the fact he kept a solid gym habit, and a somber expression. “You two ready to get back to civilization?”
If by civilization he meant a world where people watched their every move, waiting for the opportune moment to break them apart, no. But that was neither Jack’s fault nor his problem.
“As we’ll ever be.” Matt grabbed the duffel and loaded it as Jack double-checked the generator and locked the cabin door.
Satisfied, their Cajun host stowed the cooler of leftover food. Matt helped Madison into the boat that still scared her. But instead of his face being all stern demand that she shelve her fears and comply, he sent her warm encouragement and reassurance. She extended him her trust and stepped in. How could the man who demanded she strip and spread her legs for his tongue be the same guy who filled her with such quiet confidence?
The ride across the swamp was silent, but she wasn’t sure if that was because no one wanted to shout over the loud motor or because they couldn’t think of anything to say.
Once Jack docked the boat in the marina, Matt assisted her onto dry land. His touch lingered for a long moment. Then he dropped his hand. His stance turned purely protective. He was no longer her lover but her bodyguard.
Madison’s knees threatened to buckle. God, the nightmare was already starting, and they hadn’t even left Louisiana. She tried to tell herself it was necessary and not to let the distance he put between them bother her, but she couldn’t help but feel as if Matt was already slipping away.
CHAPTER THREE
Two days later, Madison sat in Nash Scott’s pickup. Matt’s fellow operative and pal stopped his truck beside a sky-scraping glass-and-concrete building that ate up a whole city block. He had volunteered to spend his Saturday driving her and her bestie, Haisley, from Lafayette to Houston so she could visit Daddy. Since nearly being carved up while trying to protect her from intruders—aka Todd’s thugs who’d broken into his apartment two weeks ago—he was thankfully on the mend.
Nash glanced at Haisley in his rearview mirror, his stare hot and focused. The redhead pretended not to notice him as she brushed a speck of lint from her sundress and glanced out the window, the sun glinting off the boho-chic braids in her long hair. Madison would have been amused if she wasn’t so tied up in knots.
Before she could visit Daddy, she had to make it through the prearranged gauntlet of the press. Then she had a mere hour or two to spend with her father and discuss his cancer treatments before Nash returned her to the safe house in Lafayette, leaving her in the protective care of Caleb Edgington, the retired colonel who had owned EM Security Management before he’d passed the business to his sons, Hunter and Logan, along with his stepson, Joaquin Muñoz.
Madison was thankful for any time with her father, but the stress of her looming DC trip had taken its toll. In the past two days, she’d barely eaten. She’d constantly slept. Still, she was exhausted and unsettled. She hadn’t seen Matt since Jack had dropped him off at the office before sending her into seclusion. His frequent calls and texts helped…but without him close, she felt as if a part of her was missing. Thankfully, Haisley’s magic with makeup hid her lingering dark circles and pale pallor. Otherwise, Daddy would know something troubled her at a glance.