Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
My head swung in her direction as she stood up.
“I can’t stay here or at Linc’s. It’s not safe for anyone, and I didn’t come here to bring danger. Linc has a wife and a little girl.”
I let go of the chair and stalked over to stop her before she reached the door.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I told her with more aggression than necessary. I took a breath, then tried again. “Listen, we aren’t scared of this guy. We can find him now that we know what we are working with. He might be a pro, but we have the means to a better one.” I glanced back at Ransom. “Call Linc and tell him. We need Wilder to go over this footage.”
Ransom’s gaze went from Montana to me. I didn’t like the expression on his face. I knew that look.
“I need to talk to you—alone,” he told me.
Fine. He wanted to do the older-brother-talk shit. I didn’t need his advice or counsel. I’d call Linc myself. I opened my mouth to tell him that whatever he wanted to tell me, he could say in front of Montana, but decided she might not need to hear it. She was already shaken up enough. If Ransom was going to say anything to upset her more, I didn’t want her in here.
“I need to go make sure all my school assignments for today are put in the right place and submitted,” she told me. “I’ll just stay there until you’re ready to go.”
Reluctantly, I nodded.
“I won’t be long,” I assured her.
She gave me a small smile that didn’t meet her eyes, then left the room. I closed the door behind her.
No longer having to control my expression, I turned and glared at my brother. “If you’re about to tell me—”
“Our job is to keep Baskin safe from her. Not to keep her safe,” Ransom interrupted. “It’s very likely that the boss is gonna see this as a way to get her off our hands. She means nothing to Blaise other than being a problem and a threat to the control the family holds in Mississippi. Granted, she’s hot, and I can see the way you’re looking at her. But you gotta snap out of that. She is Baskin’s bastard, and that won’t change. You can’t have her or fuck her or whatever the hell it is you’re wanting. But calling Linc isn’t going to help her. He’ll probably find the stalker, just to hand her over and get her off our hands.”
My nostrils flared as I inhaled, and the pounding in my temples became a roar. “She’s a nineteen-year-old girl who has lost her mother and was unfortunate enough to have that son of a bitch for a father. She needs our help.” I struggled to keep my voice down.
“Yeah, well, as far as the family is concerned, Baskin is our only priority. She threatened to out him and became our problem. This stalker? He’s not playing around. For him to go to the lengths he did to stick a fucking note in your truck…” Ransom shook his head. “But whatever game he is playing, it benefits the family if he wins.”
The rage I’d been fighting to keep under control snapped, and the chair beside me was airborne before I realized what I was doing. It crashed into the wall, knocking over a floor lamp while its leg went through the Sheetrock.
“Jesus Christ,” Ransom snarled, then grabbed my shoulders, turning me to him, and got in my face. “Calm the fuck down! She isn’t yours. Not your concern. If you were to act like this in front of Blaise Hughes, he’d likely kill you with one shot to the head. Snap out of whatever hold she has on you!” He shoved me back and shook his head as he stared at me like I’d gone crazy. “Have you fucked her? Is that it? She’s got a magical cunt and has you acting like a lunatic?”
My eyes narrowed as my hands balled into fists at my sides. “No. I’ve not touched her. But she’s alone, defenseless, and scared. Why can’t you see that?”
“I see it. But we aren’t trained to be goddamn superheroes, out to save those in need. We’re powerful, wealthy criminals, Than. That’s what we were born into, who we were raised to become. And she”—he pointed toward the door—“is a threat to one of our lines of control in Mississippi. That is what the boss cares about. That is all Linc cares about. Not her.”
I would talk to Linc. Explain this. He had a soft side because of his wife and daughter. I could use that. Get him to help me talk to Blaise. Arguing with Ransom was getting me nowhere. He might be right, but I could change their minds.