Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“He was still working for the government. They would have helped him disappear.”
“My father always hoped to meet him. He knew he was Luther’s nephew because my grandmother would always tell him wonderful stories about him. My grandmother said that was her one regret, and it was a heartbreaking one. She really did love him. She didn’t want Luther to die thinking no one loved him. She always told me she loved him very much.”
“Lotty loved him,” Diego said. “Men like us, like Luther and I, don’t expect to be loved. We don’t, so if it happens, it would feel like a miracle. Lotty was Luther’s miracle.”
Her thumb stroked along the outside of his fingers. It was the lightest of touches. He doubted she was aware of it. It was gentle. Comforting. Instinctive in her to want to soothe him. She was born with that trait. His warrior woman, lethal as hell, but all woman. The good kind. He couldn’t help but think of the stark difference in what she wanted for her home and family and what his mother had created for them.
“Diego, what did you mean when you said the kind of men you and Luther are?”
He leaned his head beside hers against the makeshift backrest. “I promised myself I’d give you the real me, even though I know it will screw up any chance I have with you.” He kept his gaze fixed on her face. She had the most appealing bone structure.
“That implies you don’t give others the real you. Why bother with me?”
“I hide in plain sight. I have to. My brother is hanging out there, vulnerable, whether he likes to think so or not. That doesn’t discount his abilities to fight. He’s a man to have on your side, and he brings all kinds of assets to the table with him. It’s just that his surgeries are incredible. His speed and skills are light-years ahead of mine. He’s saved so many lives during our rescues, it’s unbelievable. There are a couple of others with his ability, but he’s hands down the master.”
She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “Why aren’t you including yourself with those miracle workers? You are, you know.”
“You took a big chance letting me work on you. I heal animals, and have, hundreds of them, but I’ve only helped a couple of humans. Your operation was the first major one like that I’ve done. I travel with Rubin, and I always ensure he’s safe when he’s healing. He’s extraordinary at it.”
She was silent for a short period of time, thinking things over, the way she seemed to do. “I was pretty out of it, but I recall you telling me you were trusting me not to give away your secret. I took that to mean to our government or anyone who would dissect you to see how it worked. But you meant anyone. No one knows you can do what your brother does, do they? You don’t want anyone to know.”
She turned her head when she asked the question, staring him straight in the eyes. Two emeralds. That was what it was like looking into. A beautiful green jeweled sea. He could get lost looking into her eyes, and he wasn’t the poetic type. He knew Rubin wrote poetry. He’d never invaded his brother’s privacy, but he knew Rubin had a poet’s soul. He, however, did not. There wasn’t a bone in his body that could be labeled romantic, or poetic, yet looking into her eyes, all he could think about was the beauty of emeralds.
He’d promised himself he’d be real with her. She would ask him uncomfortable questions, questions he no longer had the answers to. “You and Luther. That’s it.”
“Luther is so tight-lipped when it comes to confidences, you know he’d never give anyone the smallest detail about you, even if they tortured him.”
“That’s true. How long were you with your great-uncle before you were attacked?”
“About eighteen hours.”
“He didn’t know much about either of you. I needed information quickly, and he wanted me to go after you, so he didn’t have much of a choice. He told me you were his great-nieces. He blames himself for what happened to you.”
“That seems to be a running theme in our family. I blame myself for not taking care of my sister, and Luther blames himself for what happened to us when he didn’t even know we existed. You know what that proves? We are human after all. Making us some kind of souped-up elite soldiers still doesn’t make us think we’re all that.”
Again, there was that faint note of humor. She had no trouble laughing at herself. He thought that was a much better way to handle life than being morose, as he often found himself getting to be. He flashed a small self-deprecating grin.