Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“They wanted to take her, Theo. There was a van illegally parked near the back door. They might have set her up to answer questions, but they were going to take her.” If they had, Dorian would use her for whatever purpose he had in mind, a lever to get Galen to dance to his tune, and then he’d discard her like yesterday’s trash. Even if he didn’t kill her, there would be scars, and she wouldn’t be Meg anymore.
Theo pressed his forehead to Galen’s, grounding them both. One breath. Two. Three. On the fourth, he stepped back and released him. “You were there in time.”
“I might not have been.” If he’d managed to resist the siren call of Meg’s presence, if he’d had more control, if he’d really gone to meet his local contact instead of doing the skulking Theo accused him of.
“You were there in time,” Theo repeated. He glanced down the hallway to the master bedroom where they could still hear the shower going. “Make the call. I know for a fact you have a passport with her name already set up.”
Caught again. They’d survived this long because they anticipated and played out more scenarios than their enemies did. A month ago Galen had a passport for Meg created. He’d called himself a fool ten times over for doing it, but now it would save them all kinds of trouble with red tape.
“She’s never going to forgive us for this.” For dropping a bomb on her life and leaving destruction in their wake. The two grand was nothing compared to what came next.
Theo sighed. “I know. But better she’s pissed and alive than the alternative. Make the call, Galen. We need to be out of New York before dawn.”
6
Meg sat wrapped in one of Theo’s T-shirts and tried to make sense of the words coming out of Galen and Theo’s mouths. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to need to repeat that.”
They exchanged a look, one of those flashes of dark eyes meeting blue that telegraphed an entire conversation she wasn’t privy to. Theo rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth. “You aren’t safe here.”
“Then I’m going home.”
He crouched next to the bed, putting himself even with her. “Meg, I’m not talking about the apartment. You’re not safe in New York. If Dorian has people after you, he’s not going to stop just because Galen intervened once. Hell, if anything, that will only confirm his suspicions. He will send more, and they will be worse. And once they’re done talking to you, they will shove you into a car, take you to the airport, and deliver you to Dorian wrapped up like a Christmas present.” He didn’t look away, didn’t smile to lessen his words, didn’t soften his tone. “If he gets you in Thalania, we can’t help you, and no one there will.”
It’s not fair. The cry of a child faced with circumstances beyond her control. She wanted to kick and scream and throw things until the helpless feeling in her chest dissipated. She wanted to punish both of these beautiful men for bringing this awfulness into her life, for making her a pawn in a game so far beyond her that she wasn’t even a piece on the board. It didn’t matter if neither of them intended for this to happen—they’d known the stakes so much better than she had. How could she make an informed decision when she didn’t know everything at stake?
In the end, none of it mattered.
“How long?”
Another of those loaded looks between the two of them. “We’re not sure.”
Her throat burned and she closed her eyes against the moisture gathering there. She’d had hard times before, and they hadn’t broken her. This wouldn’t, either. But, damn it, she was so close to reaching the cumulation of her plan and to have it snatched when it was only a finger’s breath away… It hurt. It fucking hurt and she was entitled to be upset. “I need time to process.”
“You don’t have much.” This from Galen where he leaned against the doorframe. “We have to move and we have to do it soon to get ahead of this.”
Meg took a deep breath and then another. “You have a plan.” They’d probably talked about it while she broke down in the shower. With the water cascading over her head, she could convince herself that it was responsible for wetting her face and not her tears. There could be no breaking down now, not when apparently the danger hadn’t subsided. If anything, it sounded like Galen helping her had only made things worse.
You should have just taken the money and let them walk out of your life.
If you had, this wouldn’t be happening.
Theo pushed to his feet and moved to stand next to Galen. They were so damn different, though they were both tall, dark, and gorgeous. Theo was the very essence of aristocracy—refined and sharp and changeable. Galen looked like he brawled in back alleys when he was looking for a good time. And they were both watching her with identical expressions on their faces, as if they expected her to dissolve into a puddle of tears and throw a tantrum that her life had just been shattered to pieces.