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)
“Well, I thought I might haul Harlow out of here under her dads’ noses and take her to a place that Hamilton will never find, hole up, and figure out what to do from there,” Niall replied.
Jensen nodded. “What he said, but I probably wouldn’t have said it because now her mom is going to call her husbands or something. He’s not good with subterfuge.”
“Oh, I disagree,” Harlow argued, her eyes narrow. “I think he’s excellent at subterfuge. After all, he fooled me.”
He was going to work on that. “Are you coming or not? You can come with us or go with Jack or your dads.”
Her mom turned to her daughter. “Baby, if you think there’s any chance…”
Harlow shook her head. “There’s not, but I also don’t like the other alternatives, and I’m not dumb enough to go out on my own. Ian, you’re not going to stop me?”
The big guy sank into his chair with a yawn that made him look like a sleepy lion. “Like I said, I don’t see a check in my hand.” And then he pinned Niall and Jensen with an icy gaze. “But if you get her hurt, I won’t need a check. I’ll help Chase disembowel you just for fun.”
“I’m going to get going before Chase disembowels me,” Jack said. “I’ll keep in touch. Hopefully it won’t be long. Jensen, I need everything you have. Which is why I might have already sent a couple of agents to your place to grab your laptop and anything that might help.”
Jensen puffed up.
Niall put a hand on his arm. “Were you going to turn it over or not? We need to move so if you’re going to fight, do it quick.”
“I didn’t say I was going with you,” Harlow said in her brattiest tone.
He was done. They were both so fucking dramatic. He strode over to her, leaned over and had her in a fireman’s hold before she could pull any of her self-defense moves on him. He held her firmly by her legs. “Mrs. Dawson, I swear I will guard your daughter with my life and with Jensen’s. In fact, I’ll try to make sure he dies first because I’m far easier to live with.”
“Niall, what are you doing?” Harlow asked, clearly shocked.
Her mom put a hand on her daughter, leaning over. “You use this time, baby girl. See if you can get what you need. I’ll try to keep your dad off your back.”
“Ian, I will pay you to kill everyone. You don’t even have to torture them. Clean kills are fine,” Harlow offered. “I can do it. This is the reason I’ve saved my trust fund.”
Ian snorted, an entirely amused sound. “And miss the drama?”
He liked the big guy. “I don’t want to drive past her dad. Should we hide somewhere until he’s gone?”
Charlotte picked up the landline on her husband’s desk. “No need. Go out the back way. I’ll have security let you through. Is the other one going? Or should Jack take care of him?”
Jack shook his head as though that was a terrible idea. “I mean, Jensen wouldn’t like witness protection. I swear the names they give out are a deterrent. Do you think you can answer to something like Mortimer Lackey? Seriously, I saw that one the other day and wondered what the dude did to piss someone off.”
“I’m going with them.” Jensen moved beside him. “And it’s best you don’t know where we are. I’ll find a way for Harlow to call in when we can. Keep her family updated so we’ll know when she can come home.”
“Hey, we should talk about this,” Harlow began.
“In three minutes your dad is going to come looking for you,” Niall pointed out.
She went quiet. He started for the elevator because he knew she wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Chapter Nine
Jensen looked around the house he grew up in and wondered why it felt so damn small now. And why it felt awkward and weird being here after all these years.
When he was young it had been him and his brother and his mom and whoever his mom was shacked up with that week.
How the hell was he back here, and what was he doing with Niall and Harlow?
How had it all gone so fucking wrong?
Or maybe right. Maybe this was the first time in years he was actually in the right place at the right time with the right people.
Was he thinking about what Niall had said?
“You want a beer?” Niall walked in.
They’d stopped at a convenience store at the edge of town. It had security cameras but no Wi-Fi. There were still whole parts of Bonnet, Texas, that didn’t have Internet, and this was one of them. Like his mother would have paid for Internet. She was far too busy paying for drugs and spending time with the men she brought home.