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)
“His thing being stupid, get-him-killed revenge on the man he blames for his brother’s death?” Taggart asked.
She nodded. “Yup, and now I’m worried that you already know that.”
Taggart sat back, not replying at all, simply waiting for someone to take the bait Harlow had thrown out.
“If I was trying to keep you so pure, why did I sleep with you the last several nights?” Niall got hooked.
And was about to receive another one of Jensen’s left hooks. What had Taggart said about red mist?
Jack looked his way. Not like he was going to stop him this time. Like he was enjoying the show. “Don’t like that much, do you?”
He ignored Jack entirely. “I asked you to watch over her not to take her to bed immediately.”
“Was it immediately… What was his name again, baby?” Taggart asked.
“Niall,” Charlotte supplied.
Niall ignored them, turning to Harlow. “I think we should talk. Alone.”
Harlow snorted. “Did Charlotte give you the good vodka? Because that is not happening.”
“Is anyone interested in talking about how the events of the night fucked everything up?” Jack asked, sounding exasperated.
“Nah, it’s more fun to watch this completely dysfunctional threesome explode,” Taggart replied.
Harlow’s eyes narrowed. “We are not a threesome.”
Harlow came from a threesome. Her fathers shared her mom. He’d thought it was weird at first, but she talked about how loving her family had been. How her dads always had someone to lean on while they were supporting her mom.
“No?” Charlotte asked. “I mean I agree you didn’t realize you were in a threesome because these two are not emotionally mature.”
“Hey,” Niall said, sounding offended.
“That’s fair,” Jensen agreed because he was pretty self-aware about some things.
“I’ve been around several of these types of relationships,” Charlotte continued. “Let’s see if I’m right. At some point in time Jensen fucked up.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s the reason Harlow got arrested in California,” Taggart added. “I didn’t know his name until tonight because she wasn’t talking, but a quick search revealed much. I have excellent hackers, even if they get mouthy when I wake them up at three in the morning. They get soft once they’re married and have kids.”
“Excellent. So Jensen fucked up and sends his bestie in to watch over the woman he thinks he loves,” Charlotte continued. “Which sounds like a very threesome thing to do.”
“No thinking involved. I know who I love,” Jensen insisted.
Niall huffed.
“We’ll see,” Charlotte replied enigmatically before continuing. “So you sent in your best friend and your best friend… What all did you give up in order to take on this assignment, Niall? I’m going to take it you weren’t conveniently located here.”
“I suspect you know where I was located and what I was doing with my life six months ago, Mrs. Taggart. I moved to Dallas. Opened a business. I was planning on moving anyway. I was working a couple of jobs, saving money to open a gym. I couldn’t do that in the small town I grew up in. I probably would have gone to Houston or Austin if I wasn’t needed here,” Niall admitted.
“Well, you should feel free to get your ass to either one,” Jensen shot back.
Then he was hit with the thought of not being in the same town as Niall. He missed the fucker. Not that he was going to let that sway him now that he realized what a woman-stealing asshole he was.
“I did it all because he was my only real friend in the world,” Niall continued. “And then I did it because of her.”
Taggart sat forward. “When did you know you were going to go behind your friend’s back? Was it early on?”
“Ian,” Charlotte said with a sigh. “He wasn’t planning on never telling Jensen. It’s why he didn’t actually sleep with her. Did you?”
“I knew pretty much after my first conversation with her,” Niall explained.
“You know we don’t have to talk about this. Jack, how fucked are we?” Harlow asked in a crisp, professional tone.
Had Niall really not slept with her? Like sleep sleeping was one thing. Fucking was another. He kind of thought from the way Harlow talked that they were all in.
Why would Niall hold back?
“Pretty fucked since Dave had a chance to take some pictures of you and Jensen and send them back to Phil. We were watching the spot where we thought you would pick her up,” Jack admitted. “To say he was shocked when Master J showed up would be to downplay the situation. He was practically giddy. You didn’t make friends inside, did you?”
“Did I make friends with the criminals who killed my brother? No.” Jensen wasn’t sure why he felt judged. “Why the hell would I?”
“Well, I’ve found when going undercover, it’s always helpful to kind of blend into the crowd, so to speak,” Jack offered. “Maybe then Dave wouldn’t have been so quick to text Phil his golden boy was a traitor. Before you ask, I checked his phone. Phil got the texts, and he’s already put out a hit on Jensen and would like to spend some time with Harlow.”