Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
His hand cupped her chin, his thumb sliding gently over her cheek. “It’s more than important to me, mon rêve. It’s imperative. Crucial. We’re asking you not to let anyone know I’m here. I’m asking that you be the one to take care of my wounds because I trust you. I’m also asking you to allow us to see to your safety.”
What was she going to say to that? “I’ll get the file.”
“That’s my woman.”
She didn’t know about being his woman, but she wasn’t going to argue in front of Rainier. “Just so we’re all on the same page, Raine guessed that you were alive and were in my home.”
“That’s no surprise,” Rainier said. “She would never disclose that information.”
“Even if Blom contacts her?” Wilder asked.
“Raine would never say a word,” Rainier answered for her. “She doesn’t work for Blom, although she has done work for him. She’s independent, and she doesn’t mix up which branch she’s working for. We have no worries on that score, Wilder.”
“Do you suspect Blom of something nefarious?” Harlow asked. “He’s Wilder’s boss. He wouldn’t set him up to be killed, would he?” The idea was terrifying, but not altogether impossible as far as she was concerned. Blom was Vienna’s birth father, and he’d denied it, and he’d used her to draw out a killer. He didn’t seem to have any scruples.
Wilder flashed his grin. “Nefarious? I’d say that’s a good word to describe the boss. That and ruthless. If he decided to get rid of me because he thinks I’m too much trouble, but I know too much, yeah, he might set me up for an ambush.”
Harlow didn’t like the blasé way he treated his near-death experience, as if he accepted that the man who had sent him out on countless missions would decide to end him and expected that kind of treatment.
“Tell me what happened, Wilder. I think you both suspect Blom.” She really didn’t expect him to answer her and was shocked when he did.
“I was sent to meet with another agent. James Selleck.” He exchanged a look with Rainier that Harlow couldn’t quite interpret, but it gave her a very bad feeling. “I knew him fairly well. He had information on a terrorist cell in Indonesia. We were talking; everything seemed fine. He was handing me proof, photos, and I stepped close to him to take them. I don’t know what tipped me off, but I turned at the last second when he attacked with the knife. He was fast.”
“He’s known for his knife work,” Rainier said.
He sounded so matter-of-fact, Harlow wanted to yell at him that it wasn’t normal, but she knew, to the two of them, what had happened to Wilder wasn’t unexpected.
“I didn’t count the stab wounds; my focus was on taking him out, which I managed to do with his own knife. I needed to step away from him, catch my breath and deal with the bleeding before I took care of the body.”
Harlow’s stomach lurched. The idea of Wilder in such a terrible situation sickened her. She looked at Rainier. He didn’t appear upset. Neither did Wilder. They lived in such a different world, but she knew that because Rainier was a doctor, he knew how dangerous it was for Wilder to be exerting energy when he was bleeding profusely.
“The second I stepped out of the trees, I stumbled. My legs were so weak. That fall saved my life. The bullet hit just below my heart instead of my heart. I knew there was a two-man team after me and a sniper was up in a tree somewhere. I kept rolling when he shot me, back into the trees and shadows, and then it was on.”
Harlow waited. Rainier just nodded as if he understood. She didn’t. Wilder was wounded. Losing blood. “There is no way you went after the sniper in the condition you were in,” she declared.
“Babe.” Wilder’s voice was gentle. “You do what you have to do to survive. I was set up. No one could be allowed to escape and get back to whoever sent them to say I was still alive. I couldn’t have him coming after me. It had to be done.”
“That’s crazy. I just have to let both of you know, it’s totally insane the way you live. And now you’re worried his boss, a man very well respected in the CIA, very powerful, could be the one who sent those two men to kill him.” She was rather proud of the fact that she wasn’t yelling at them.
“It’s under control,” Rainier assured her. “We’re just being cautious. Please get the files for us to go over.”
“Sure. Why not?” Sarcasm was heavy as she stood. “We won’t worry about the threat to Wilder, even though he had enough stab wounds and gunshot wounds to make him a human sieve, but we’ll all get worked up over a couple of idiots cutting words out of magazines.”