Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“Your girlfriend?” Jared asked.
The Fox stared at him. “No.”
No?
Who the fuck was his sunshine then?
The Fox turned and headed to the door before pausing. “Ahh, nearly forgot. I heard you have a severed head problem. Tricky thing to get rid of.”
What did that mean?
They weren’t weeds that kept popping up in his lawn.
Fuck. Retiring to a beach in the Bahamas was sounding more and more appealing by the moment.
“How do you know about that?” Jared asked.
They hadn’t told anyone outside the three of them, and a couple of guards. Had one of the guards blabbed?
“Oh, I have my ways. Do you know who is sending you the heads?”
Jared ground his teeth together. Should he tell him?
“Jared thinks it’s a guy called Beltran,” Angie said.
“Beltran? He’s Colombian, right?”
Jared nodded. “You’ve heard of him?”
“Not much. How did you get on the bad side of him?”
“He killed some people I cared about.”
“Ahh. And now you want revenge? Understandable. Well, you will need to take him out before he kills anyone else.”
“I know that.” Why did the Fox think Jared needed him to point out the obvious?
“Doubt he’s doing this himself, of course,” the Fox said. “I don’t know anyone in the area who is fond of severing heads and delivering them. It’s so messy. Bit deranged, really. Not that I don’t appreciate that. Take care of Angie. If she gets her head chopped off, I will be extremely unhappy.” He left with a whistle.
Jared quickly checked with Patrick and John, to make sure they didn’t try to shoot him on his way out.
Then he rushed over to Angie. “Are you all right? Did he harm you?”
“No, he’s my friend. Why would he hurt me?”
“Maybe because he is a psychopath.”
“I don’t think that’s very nice,” she said.
“Angie, he’s an assassin.”
“And you’re a mafia kingpin.” she fired back.
Fuck.
She had a point.
Jared ran his hand down his face and took a seat in the chair by her bed.
“I know a lot of people see him as the bad guy and I don’t talk about him because he told me it could put me in danger. But also because I don’t want to put him in danger.”
Jared nodded “I understand that. But is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“Like what?” she asked. “Like the fact that Beltran apparently killed people you cared about?”
57
She couldn’t help but feel hurt.
And maybe jealous?
Who were these people? Family members? Or something more? Was it a girlfriend?
You’re being ridiculous.
Right. But she realized that he hadn’t fully explained why Beltran was a threat.
And you didn’t ask.
No, but now she should have.
Jared nodded. “I’ll tell you what happened. But first I need to call and check in with North and get some more security in the hospital.”
“You don’t need more security,” she said. “The Fox isn’t a threat to me.”
“No, but Beltran is. And two guards isn’t enough. I’m going to flood this hospital with me. Not that I’m leaving your side again.”
“I’m sure I’m going home soon.”
“And until you do, you will be just as protected here as there.”
He made a couple of calls before sitting on the bed, facing her.
“Baby girl, you haven’t eaten,” he said, checking the food on her tray.
“I’m not hungry. I want to know what’s going on.”
He frowned. “Well, North isn’t happy. In fact, he nearly yelled.”
“North? Yell?”
“Yeah, which means he’s really not happy.”
“About the Fox? Was he worried about you?” she asked.
“Me? Why would he worry about me? No, he was enraged that the Fox got that close to you. He thinks it’s best that we get you out of the hospital and back home. Which I agree with. But you won’t heal without eating.”
“Food isn’t important.”
“It is when you were already underweight.” He lifted the lid of the tray. “But not this crap. I’ll get North to bring you some food.”
She frowned. She wasn’t going to eat it. Although she wasn’t silly enough to say that.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she urged.
“Right.” With a sigh, he sat on the bed, facing her. He ran his hand over his face, looking exhausted. She felt a pang of regret for pushing him, but she had to know. “So, growing up with my father wasn’t easy, as you can well imagine. I was the heir, groomed to take over the family when he died. But he also saw me as competition. He both hated me and needed me. My mother killed herself when I was ten. But before then she’d checked out of life. I couldn’t blame her. My father hired tutors to take care of me. Staff to feed me and keep me clothed. I had to be careful not to get attached to any of them, though. Because my father didn’t like it if I had too much care and attention.”
“What . . . what would happen if you did get attached?” she asked nervously.