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)
One of the things that stood out the most when she was introduced that morning at breakfast was the way Rubin and Ezekiel stayed close to her. Rubin had actually stood on the other side of her, one hand on her shoulder. Ezekiel had come up behind her for the introductions. She should have felt very vulnerable with him behind her, but she didn’t. She felt safe. She could feel the waves of protection coming off the three men—Ezekiel, Rubin and Diego—and it felt good. She was very aware she wasn’t one hundred percent physically fit. These men she was being introduced to were elite soldiers. More than soldiers.
“You must think Chariot isn’t going to let me go. All of you must think that.” Her stomach knotted, and the tension came right back.
“I doubt he would allow it without persuasion of some sort.”
Her heart slammed hard against her chest. She pressed her fist over it in the hopes of quieting it. “I left Gracie with Marcy. She might be married to Commander Chariot, but she has always been a friend and advocate. If there is one person on this earth aside from you, Diego, that I trust, it’s her. But Chariot knows she’s watching Gracie. When I’m away, she always does. He probably has my baby in his home right this minute. Sometimes Marcy will stay at my little apartment in the dorm building, but there are times when she takes Grace to their home.”
“You’re worried that he’ll hold the baby hostage and insist that if you want her, you have to return to them.”
She nodded. “I think he will, yes.”
“You do know how fucked-up that is, using a baby to force her mother to continue working for them. You don’t even get paid, Leila. He’s not treating you with the respect he gives his soldiers. He sends you out on assignments that can get you killed with no backup. I doubt he was responsible for the decision to send your sister to Whitney, but he certainly knows about it. Just the fact that some of the soldiers were bringing you up the mountain to rendezvous with a helicopter to take you back to Chariot and the others were taking your sister down the mountain to return her to Whitney tells you how much Chariot is concerned with your well-being.”
“It really doesn’t matter if he’s a complete bastard, Diego. If he holds Grace back and won’t allow me to take her with me, I won’t go. I won’t leave her.”
Diego swept his hand down the back of her head in a soothing caress that allowed her heart to stop pounding. It wasn’t just a caress; it was a gesture of solidarity. He spoke volumes without saying a word. She loved that about him. She also believed in him. It made no sense. They weren’t paired by some strange phenomenon. She had only been with him a couple of weeks, but those days had been intense. They had focused completely on each other, and more, they could each see into the other using telepathic communication.
“I think someone else has arrived,” she whispered to Diego.
Diego circled her waist with one arm and tucked her into his side. “We’ve got two men coming toward us, just now emerging from the forest. The one hanging back a little is Trap Dawkins. Don’t take offense at anything he says or doesn’t say. He’s probably one of the brightest men on the planet. I don’t say that lightly. He’s a self-made billionaire, married to Cayenne, one of Whitney’s rejects, and he’s neurodivergent. He doesn’t like to engage in conversation, but Draden and Wyatt are working with him on social cues. He’s a father now and knows it’s going to be important to make those kinds of efforts.”
“He looks uncomfortable. He doesn’t have to be introduced.” She wasn’t certain she could go through too many more introductions without wanting to make a run for it.
“Trap has abilities we may need to retrieve Grace. He was the one who managed to free Wyatt’s daughters from a holding cell. They were scheduled for termination. Cayenne was as well. Without Trap, we never would have gotten to those children or Cayenne.”
Leila could tell it was important to Diego that she try to understand his friend Trap. The man walking with Trap had wavy dark hair and a muscular build. He wasn’t as tall as his friend, but he walked with confidence.
“Wyatt Fontenot is with Trap. Wyatt brought us all home to his grandmother, Nonny, a few at a time. We’ve made that area our home ever since. None of us can do without Nonny.”
“Judging by the food she sent and how delicious it was this morning, all of you probably settled there because she’s such a good cook. I’m beginning to believe you all think with your stomachs.”