Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
The head snapped up, giving my skin relief from his revolting mouth. Once again, he was furious at the sound of her name. “I’m aware of who you are, Kara.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
His anger receded and was replaced with a slow, bitter smile. “I couldn’t get to her. The marshal made sure of that. So, I followed you. From your apartment, to work. My plan was to use you to get close.” I bucked against his hold, but it was futile. “It didn’t take me long to realize what a mistake I’d made.”
My throat closed up, so the word burst from me tight and hurried. “Mistake?”
“She doesn’t deserve me. I don’t want a whore with some other man’s baby inside her. But you? Fuck, Kara. You’re perfect. And it will be perfect between us.”
“No.” It was so scary, I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. In fact, all my muscles tensed until I was utterly rigid. “No.”
His eyes had an unfocused look, like he wasn’t all there. “Then he almost ruined it. That asshole in New York who threatened your life.”
He squeezed my wrists together with one hand so he could set the other on my neck, placing his thumb at the hollow of my throat. It was a dominating gesture. There was no pressure in his grip, yet his hand seemed to weigh a million pounds.
“I made him beg for his life,” he added, “not that it made a difference.”
Oh, God, no. “You killed Scott?”
His chaotic expression washed away and focus returned. “He almost took you away from me. I don’t like people coming after what’s mine.”
Abruptly, his harsh hands around me were gone. It was like he’d suddenly been struck with a thought. He rolled off and sat at the edge of the bed with his back turned to me.
“Get up and get dressed,” he ordered. “It’s time to talk to your sister.”
32
SHAWN
We sat in Jason’s hotel room, going over satellite images into the dead of night, L asleep on top of the covers of the nearby bed. We’d seen a figure leave the house and return a few hours later, nothing more than a grainy dot on the images, but another good sign. Even if Kara wasn’t in the house, someone was. Someone we could question when we stormed the place tomorrow.
Jason and Ethan refused to move until the video call was over. Ethan was convinced this was a trap. “More information,” he said, “equals better operation.”
Like his trite saying was supposed to comfort me.
“We need to get some sleep,” Jason said, looking as exhausted as I felt. “If you’re coming with us tomorrow, you need to do this. You can barely stand.”
I didn’t take orders, but I’d let my brother believe I would tonight. I nodded and shuffled to my hotel room across the hall, shutting the door behind me.
The cold water I splashed on my face helped a little with my exhaustion. I’d give it ten minutes before I went downstairs, slipped behind the wheel of my Audi, and drove to the house myself.
No, ten minutes was too long. Who knew what could happen to her in those ten minutes? Five minutes. Five minutes was better.
I paced a circle in the tiny room. If I sat, I’d feel the urge to lie down, and if I did that, I’d be done for. I hadn’t really slept since the bombs went off, so only my worry and anger were keeping me going.
I checked the peephole on my hotel door and saw the hallway was clear, but when I opened the door, a huge rock of a man fell into the room. My brother had been sitting on the floor with his back against the door, guarding it.
He hauled himself up and glared at me. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
“Get out of my way.” He knew exactly where I was going. “I can’t wait here.”
“You can, and you will.”
My brother’s broad shoulders were square to me, his stance wide and ready for a fight, a scowl on his face. He’d perfected the dark, authoritative look our mother gave, even when he’d been living in America for most of his life. I was taller, but it was the only advantage I held over my younger brother.
He was bigger, faster, and better at physical confrontation.
But I was coming apart; couldn’t he see that? He reached out, latching a hand on the back of my neck so he could pull his face close.
“Because of him, I almost lost the woman I love. I am not going to lose my brother to him. Get the fuck back in your room, or I’ll put you there.”
The intense look in the dark brown eyes said he would do it. This was the logical, smart thing to do, but that part of me died when the first picture of Kara had appeared on my phone. Mine, Juric had said.