Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“I knew your cock, Jensen.” She gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up. “Good for you. You know how to work it. But the rest, I didn’t know at all or I would have realized what a betraying motherfucker you would turn out to be.”
“I did it to save you.” He knew she wouldn’t understand but he had to try. “Things were getting dangerous, and if you stayed you would have ended up in Mexico with me. They would have used you to manipulate me.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t have worked. They would have figured out quickly Jensen Wiley doesn’t have soft spots to exploit.”
She was so wrong. “I assure you the minute they took you into custody, I would have given it all up.”
Her purple hair shook. “Tell yourself that so you can sleep at night. I don’t care. I have everything from you I ever want. I have a reminder to not trust a man like you again. It still aches every time it rains. I was fairly certain he was going to rape me.”
He felt those words like a kick to his gut. It forced him to step back. “You weren’t alone with him for more than a few minutes. The cops were coming. I had confirmation they were on the way.”
“And you slipped out the back so you didn’t have to face the consequences,” Harlow accused. She had her tough-girl face on, the one she used when she shut out everyone. “When your friend realized the cops were on their way, he turned on me. He broke my arm, shoved me over a table. I was lucky, but I will never forget that it was my loving boyfriend who left me there.”
He was going to be sick. “I wanted you out, and I knew you wouldn’t leave without finishing your case. I got her out. I did that for you.”
“You did it for your own conscience. You didn’t do it for me. Look, you seem to think you can make me believe you actually cared about me.”
“I loved you.” He felt his fists clench at his side. “Harlow, I still fucking love you. I know you…”
She put up a hand to stop him. “Don’t care. Anything I felt for you died when you left me behind and didn’t even give me a heads-up. I don’t love you. I don’t trust you. I don’t think about you. You are a mistake I made and I won’t make again, so whatever this is, you can stop. It won’t work.”
This was his nightmare. She didn’t even want to hear him out. “But you have another Dom? I thought you wouldn’t make that mistake again.”
“I have a real Dom this time. One who truly cares about me.”
Oh, she had these little tells. Nothing big, but when she wasn’t entirely telling the truth, her brow raised the slightest bit, as though begging him to challenge her.
She didn’t know if this mystery guy honestly cared about her.
Or she was worried because her last boyfriend nearly got her killed.
“Did you meet him at your club? It’s here, right? The Hideout?” He wasn’t about to tell her he knew damn near everything since he’d had someone watching her for months.
He should have had someone watching her every minute they were apart. Then he would have known how much damage he’d done.
Would he have stayed away? Would he have kept his head down and worked if he’d known how much she was hurting?
He wanted to say no.
She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter because you don’t have any part in my life. I have a job to do. Unless you want to give me some intel, we need to be done here. Is this whole club a front for Cliff Hamilton’s drug operation? Has he been using a delivery app to run his drugs and possibly launder his money?”
Fuck. She’d put that together quickly. “I’m going to have you kicked out. I don’t expect to see you here again.”
She stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowing. This wasn’t her tough-chick persona. This was her “I will murder you and bury you on some farmland” persona. “And I’ll shout to the top of my lungs your real name as they haul me out. I’ll make sure you can’t work undercover ever again. You’re in my city, Jensen. My family owns a nice chunk of it, and that includes cozy relationships with important people. I can have you kicked out of Dallas. Honestly, I might like to see how you handle getting arrested.”
He did not like the fact that his cock hardened when she challenged him. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would, and I know you’re sitting there stewing in your own misery because how could the sweet, loving woman you idealized in your head ever do something so terrible to you? How could I do it knowing how much you want revenge for your brother? Because I do not care about you, Jensen. You killed the woman who loved you. She’s gone and she’s not coming back. If it’s a choice between your useless, selfish revenge and my client’s life, I’ll sell you out in a heartbeat, and don’t think I won’t.”