Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“I didn’t stick around to find out what they wanted. Tried to lose them, but it didn’t do much good. Found the duffel. Figured if I had to run, I needed both hands free, so I grabbed it. Didn’t even look inside, just tossed the package in it.”
“A bag full of cash?”
I nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I took this job. The payout was so high that I wouldn’t have to do any more courier stints for a while. I don’t know why it was in the boathouse. I was supposed to trade with the contact. Maybe they ran when those guys started shooting?”
“Hmm. Maybe. And then?” he prodded when I got lost in the memory of what happened.
“They started shooting at me.”
A growl rumbled up his chest. The low and dangerous sound oddly made me feel better.
“I got lucky. Found the bike in the alley with the key in it. I wasn’t exactly prepared to ride one, but I had no other choice. So I took it.” The memory of engines screaming on the speedway still scraped at my nerves. “Next thing I knew, I was crashing. And then…you.”
There was no anger in his eyes. Just something far heavier. “Figured it was something like that.”
“I was carrying a duffel of cash and an encrypted drive.” I snorted and shook my head. “You should’ve assumed the worst.”
“Learned to trust my gut a long time ago, which is why you’re gonna stay here. Where I can keep you safe.”
For reasons I didn’t want to think too hard about, the determination in his voice was almost as unsettling as the men hunting me.
Mason studied me for another long moment before pushing to his feet. “Get some rest. I have some things to take care of.”
I almost asked what kind of things, but I bit the words back because I wasn’t sure I could handle the answer right now.
He headed for the door, and the latch clicked softly as it closed behind him. Except this time, no lock followed.
I rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. My ribs ached with every breath, but it was nothing compared to the tightness in my chest. I’d told him my name. Probably because I wanted to believe his promise to keep me safe a little too much.
Somewhere in this building, his tech guy was tearing into the drive that had dragged all this trouble to my door. I didn’t know what was on it. But whatever it was, the guys after me thought it was worth killing for.
7
AXLE
The first thing I did when I opened the door was look at her mouth.
Not because I was about to kiss it—though that thought kept driving circles in my skull like a souped-up V8 with a stuck throttle—but because her bottom lip had a tiny split on one side, and I wanted to be sure it hadn’t gotten worse overnight. It was pink and puffy, but there was no additional swelling. I couldn’t help picturing those pretty lips wrapped around my dick.
I shoved the image away and reminded myself why I was there. Cage had asked about her, and I wanted to check on my angel so I could report back to him. That was what I told myself, anyway.
Ashlynn was sitting cross-legged in the center of my bed, a fortress of pillows behind her back and my dark gray comforter pooled at her hips. Someone else in that position would’ve looked vulnerable. Somehow, she didn’t. She looked…set. Like a driver belted into a cage, hands at ten and two, eyes on the flag. That stubborn tilt to her chin again, the one that had shown up the second she’d woken up and saw me sitting there. The one that told me, without a word, she was about to put up a fight.
It was aggravating as shit. But her sass and fire were also sexy as fuck. I liked it, which was a problem.
My gaze strayed to the closet where I’d stashed the money in my safe. Then I looked back at the gorgeous angel in front of me. I decided right then that she wouldn’t be getting it back until I knew she wouldn’t take it and run.
“Cage said to take it easy.” I let the door fall shut with a soft click and leaned my shoulders back against it for a beat. “No sparring matches with what-if ghosts. No high-impact life choices.”
She slid me a look from under those thick lashes and dropped her gaze to my forearms as though she was cataloging every vein. “And you’re here to enforce the doctor’s orders?”
“Something like that.” I pushed off the door and crossed the room slowly, like I was approaching a skittish mare.
She folded her hands in her lap and pretended she wasn’t watching me watch her. “Your tech guy really is hacking the drive?”