Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She was beautiful.
“You’re not sleeping in the other room,” I informed her firmly. “You’re staying here, with me.”
She nodded.
“I need you beside me.”
“I need you too,” she whispered.
That was all I wanted to hear. Slipping my hands under her legs, I carried her into my room, laying her on my bed.
“You sleep here from now on.”
She lifted her chin, and her eyes narrowed. “I don’t take orders from you, fuckwit.”
My feisty girl was back.
I grinned at her. “Really.” I kneeled down on the bed, hovering over her, caging her in between my arms. “Is that a fact, Kitten?”
She slipped her hand up my arm, trailing it over my shoulder and around my neck, caressing the ends of my hair. I shivered at her light touch.
“I’m my own boss,” she whispered. “I call the shots.”
“And what’s your decision, Skylar?” I murmured, running my nose along her jawline and up to her ear, teasing the lobe with my teeth. “Will you stay here with me?” I licked the curve of her ear, smiling at her quiet whimper. “In my bed?”
She pulled me to her mouth.
“Yes.”
Skylar curled around me, her head resting on my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair, loving how soft it felt on my skin.
“What’s your plan, Cian?”
I sighed quietly, knowing I had to tell her the truth.
“Now that I’ve gotten Orson to trust me, I know he’s going to offer me a place in his organization. I’m going to accept it, and then I’m going to take him down. It’ll take some time, but I’ll get it done.”
“How?”
“Sean will be able to get into his files, then we’ll take his connections and destroy them. Shipments will go missing, people will start disappearing, money evaporating.”
“Won’t you be an obvious source—being so new?”
“Nope. I’ll be beside Orson the whole time. I’ll take out enough of the problems, he’ll never suspect me.” I drew in a deep breath. “Above all else, Orson has an ego the size of Texas, Skylar. It’s one of his downfalls. He thinks he picked me. His opinion will be biased because he won’t be able to admit he was wrong—until it’s too late.”
She bit her lip, fussing with my shirt. Slipping my fingers under her chin, I lifted her head. “What? Something is bothering you.”
“How do you know he doesn’t know who you and Sean are? That he doesn’t remember your dad?”
I shook my head. “It was too long ago for him, Skylar. My dad was small-time. And with Sean’s private life, he’s safe. I’m just a lowly detective—I’m not known at all. We, ah, took precautions as well.”
“Precautions?”
“When this all came to light and I knew I wanted to do this, an…accident was arranged.”
“Accident?” she whispered, her fingers tightening on my shirt.
“Sean, Julia, and I were involved in a fatal car accident one weekend. There was an article about it in the paper, and our obituaries were listed. Technically, none of us exists anymore—although we kept our first names. But even if my last name had twigged Orson’s memory, he thinks the son of the man he had killed years ago is dead as well.”
“How long is this going to take?”
“Not long. Sean and I plan on moving fast. With his expertise and my front, we want it done. We can’t let it drag on and risk exposure. We’ll start breaking him down right away, and once it begins, it’ll be like dominoes. Sean will dismantle his empire, while I destroy his life. All we need is the right time for Sean to get access to his computer and start the process.” I exhaled heavily. “And I’m going to get in that godforsaken room and take all his fucking trophies. I’ll make damn sure all those families get closure and he pays for what he stole.”
“You sound so positive.”
“I am. We have it all planned, plus the fact that I know someone else close to him is disloyal. I’m going to find out who it is and use them to help us. His trusted crew is small—that’s one reason he’s been so good at never being caught. But the ranks are breaking down, and I’m going to use that advantage. His time is over.”
“If Tony was so elusive, how did Orson find you?”
“Harper was planted months ago, as well as another agent. Sean’s been working on small interruptions and problems, and the other agent pointed the finger in the direction of Harper. He also happened to have my contact information and brought me in, with Orson’s blessing. We worked it from there.” I snorted. “Orson hates for others to take credit he thinks should be his. And landing Tony Malone was something he wanted to take credit for.”
“Where is the other agent?”
“I killed him.”
Skylar gasped softly.
“I had to do it to prove to Orson I was for real. He baited me in front of Orson and tried to take credit for bringing me in. I took out my gun and shot him.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It was another setup, Kitten. He fell off the cliff he was standing close to, and his body was swallowed up in the darkness. A few days later, a body washed up and was identified as being his. A local criminal well-known to the authorities—not a great deal of energy was expended to follow up on how he died. Orson found it rather…amusing…when I gave him the gold pen the man always carried.”