Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
He followed her inside, the tingling in his body residing, though he was far from lucid. “The remains…they removed a body.”
“Wasn’t the first time I framed her death.” Nathan stepped out of the kitchen and walked through the living room, approaching Jay slowly with his hands in his pockets. “Borrowing a charred cadaver was one of the easier tasks, especially since it didn’t need to be placed at the crime scene. Its existence was for you and Roy only. Though I may never be able to repay all favors I owe from this little venture.” He shrugged.
Jay’s emotions rocked from confusion to elation, landing in a blood-boiling rage. His teeth snapped together, and his muscles quaked. “You knew? You fucking knew all this time?”
She slipped between them and held up her hands. “Jay, calm down. This was my idea. It was the only way to end it.”
A red haze swarmed his vision. “Am I the only asshole who was excluded from this brilliant plan?”
“No.” She stepped into him and settled her hands on this chest. “Nathan was the only one who knew, and I didn’t call him until I made it out.” Her lashes fluttered over her hollow cheeks. “You couldn’t know. Roy would’ve seen right through you.”
Fuck Roy. His heart pounded as he sifted through all the risks she took, all the ways it could’ve gone so horribly wrong. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. And he would, after he sorted out all the hurt battling through him. “Go to the bedroom. I’ll deal with you in minute.”
She huffed and balled her hands on her hips.
“Now!” He thrust a finger at the hallway.
Charlee’s shoulders shot to her ears, and she took off in the desired direction.
He dropped his hand, flexing it at his side, and glared at Nathan. “You’ve lied to me about her death not once, but twice. Never. Again.”
The skin around Nathan’s eyes tightened. “There won’t be an again.”
“No, there fucking won’t be.” He nodded to Tony, who lingered in the kitchen doorway. “Call that pilot, ask him to come back. You and Nathan have the next three months off. A paid vacation. Go on a trip, practice drills, fuck each other’s brains out, do whatever it is bodyguards do.”
He pushed past Nathan and followed Charlee’s sweet scent down the hall. Two weeks of pain lifted little by little with each step. He breathed clearer. His feet moved steadier. It was funny how a passing of time could rip you apart, and all it took was one freeing moment to solder the pieces back together.
Closing and locking the bedroom door, he turned to face the incarnation of his universe. She was a goddess in a way, wielding the power to destroy and rebuild him at will. His blood pumped with appreciation, respect, longing. It also thrummed with the need to balance that power. “Take off your clothes.”
A flicker lit her eyes, and she scrambled to follow his order. When her shirt, boots, jeans, and undergarments thudded to the carpet, she straightened her back and raised her gaze.
He circled her, his fingers trembling over her collarbone, down her spine, and around the dip of her waist. “Why have you lost weight?”
“I couldn’t eat.” She cleared her throat and whispered, “I missed you.”
His heart flipped. “You have two weeks to put the weight back on. If you don’t, you’ll be spending a lot of time eating off the end of my fork.”
She nodded, smiled.
He continued his circuit around her, trying like hell to maintain some semblance of composure. She was alive. Right there, beneath his hand. “How did you escape the hatch unseen?”
“The smoke hid me when I slipped from the compartment on the driver’s side and out the back door of the hangar. I found an unlocked shed a few rows down and waited there. Roy didn’t leave the passenger door, and luckily, his guards stayed with him.”
The blazing innards of the bus would forever be burned into his mind. She’d been right down the road while he’d crumbled apart in that hangar. “Luckily. That’s exactly right.” He stopped before her, glared down into her wide eyes. “I’m infuriated over the risks you took with your life. Our lives. Did you consider what your death would do to me?”
“You’re so strong.” She dropped her eyes to the floor. “I watched the concert on the Internet. You were amazing.” She looked up, didn’t flinch from his hard glare. “There were a lot of flaws in my plan, but your resilience was never a doubt.” Her chin trembled. “Still, I deeply regret putting you through that.”
The conviction in her words settled over him. His heart skipped through his chest, thumping to the beat of effortless chord changes. G. D. E…D.
Christ, he loved her. He moved to the bed, sat on the edge, and pointed to his bent knees. “Come here.”