Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
“And told her what?” Brody wasn’t sure he even cared about excuses. She would always have one. It would always be about saving someone else. She would die for anyone. Why couldn’t she find a way to live for him? For Nate? “Told her to sacrifice herself? We were handling the situation. What exactly does Anya’s brother believe he can do that we can’t?”
“Well, I’m sure he thinks he can exchange Alfi and Steph for his sister. That’s got to be his plan. No one knows where the damn thumb drive is,” Tag offered. “Unless they were lying about that and then the fucker now has absolutely everything he needs to get his sister back.”
“Stephanie wouldn’t want to leave anything to chance.” Avery’s hand closed over her husband’s, squeezing tight and finding obvious comfort. “If that man threatened you or Nate, then she would have done anything to make sure you were safe.”
“Threatened me?” He was floored at the thought of tiny Steph thinking to save his big, bad arse. It was ridiculous. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, I can take care of myself. I was in the SASR. I didn’t get there being weak and vulnerable. What the hell would he threaten me with? I could kill the man in a heartbeat. He wouldn’t win a fight with me.”
“Oh, but the fight wouldn’t be fair, Brody,” a feminine voice said. He looked up and Charlotte was standing in the doorway. She leaned against the open door, her arms over her chest.
“I can handle myself in an unfair fight, too.” He’d seen his fair share of pub brawls. He and Alfi used to think that was what made a good Friday night out.
Charlotte’s eyes seemed to go cold. It was odd because Charlotte was always so warm around him. “You know nothing about this particular world, Brody. Trust me. I do. I grew up in it. My father would have made Fedor look like a choirboy. I know what I would have said to Stephanie if I needed her to turn herself in to me. You see, Fedor would have studied her. I assure you he had an enormous amount of information on the woman who employed his sister. He would have known Stephanie in all the ways that are important because he’s a man who views other human beings as nothing but things to manipulate. That’s how the syndicate works. He can love his sister, but anyone outside his family isn’t really human to him. It’s how he can do what he does. And what he does is kill.”
He appreciated that Charlotte had come from that world, but he couldn’t see her point. He’d dealt with mobsters before and he was still alive. “Charlotte, I can protect myself. I know I’m not a mob assassin, but I do have training.”
“Ah, but I wouldn’t come after you today. Or tomorrow. I would wait. I would bide my time and learn everything there is to know about you. I would know your habits. I would know how often you eat lunch out and what days you tend to stay in. I would spend months or maybe even years learning you. You would forget me, but I wouldn’t do the same. You would be my obsession, my only reason to live. And then one day when your son is older and you’ve moved on, when you think the world has shifted into a happy place, I would find you. I would make it random. Perhaps you’re on holiday and you stop at a petrol station. I would be waiting in the restroom and I would kill you there. I wouldn’t need you to see me. I wouldn’t make it a grandstanding thing. You wouldn’t hear me. I would be there and you would be dead. And then your son, I would come for him, too.”
“Jesus, Charlie.” Taggart’s eyes had gone wide.
“Well, that’s what Fedor likely said to her. I know because I grew up in that life. I know what he’s capable of. Brody thinks because he’s brave and strong and bigger than a damn bull that he’s bulletproof, but he’s not. If evil comes for him, evil can win, and Stephanie knows that,” Charlotte said quietly.
Avery looked his way. “What would you do for that child in your arms?”
He stared down at Nate. Those big blue eyes were staring up at him, a tuft of hair on his otherwise bald head, and his heart constricted. “I would do anything.”
“And so would she, but she’s thinking about you, too,” Avery said. “You’re looking at this from your point of view. You know you’re strong enough to save yourself. Steph isn’t. Not physically. All she can see is that she’s got the power to save you both.”
“If that’s what happened.” But his mind was already bending, his heart aching for the woman he couldn’t quite seem to grasp. She was always a couple of inches away from his arms, and he worried she always would be.