Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
“Yeah. I know. But they’ve kept me busy. There’s a garage. Like, you wouldn’t believe the cars. The food is crazy good. And the women?” She inhales. “They’re terrifying in the best way. Badass doesn’t cover it.”
I close my eyes, picturing Liv Reed, Camila Dias, the Gomez sisters, and Lydia the former Russian operative… Yeah. Those women don’t survive things. They go to war.
“Don’t worry about me. I…” Her hesitation snaps my eyes open. “Is he there?”
Jag’s expression fractures in a way I’ve never seen. Raw relief. Bottomless love. And regret. His sadness is so heavy it darkens everything else.
“Yeah. He’s here.” I find his hand on his thigh and lace our fingers together. “He can hear you.”
“Oh.” She pauses as if rearranging herself. “I don’t know what’s going on. Not all of it. Probably not even a sliver of it. But I know whatever this is, it involves you saving my life. Again. I have so many questions, but I was given very specific instructions about what I can and can’t say on this line, so I’m trying not to screw that up.”
“I’m coming for you.” His voice breaks.
“I know. That’s the one thing I’ve always been able to count on.” She draws in a breath, and it comes out choppy. “I’ve had time to think, and after talking with some new friends, I’ve been able to look back, see things differently, and sort out pieces I couldn’t line up before. But when I see you again, you better fucking be straight with me. About all of it.”
“I will.” He glances down at his hand and discreetly lifts his smallest finger. “I swear it.”
“He’s staring at his pinkie.” I grip it and bring it to my mouth. “From here on out, we tell the truth.”
She makes an un-Dove-like whimpering sound and coughs to cover it up.
“When you come for me…” Her voice wobbles. “I want you united. The way I know you want to be.”
I clutch Jag’s hand, and he stares back at me, stunned.
“What are you saying?” I tilt my head.
“Is he trustworthy?” she asks.
I remember our conversation the night before she was taken, when she admitted she could’ve shared me with Jag… If he were trustworthy.
“That’s a stupidly easy yes. He’s solid and proven all the way down.” I take a breath. “There’s so much you don’t know yet. So many things we’ll tell you when we see you.”
“Yeah. I’m quickly realizing that the not-knowing part is the main issue.” She sniffs. “But you trust him, and I trust you. So what you choose to do together won’t hurt me. Just… Don’t forget about me. Because I’m not stepping aside.”
“Sweet Bird…” I laugh, breathless and wrecked, tears prickling behind my eyes. “There is no version of reality where there’s an us without you. You’re the whole point.”
She smiles into the line. I can’t hear it, but I know all her pauses.
“Do you have clothes? Shoes?” I ask.
“Yeah. The women here have been gracious. I have plenty to wear.”
“Are you alone right now?”
“No. There’s a terrifying, flesh-eating overlord standing over me, listening to every word while casually picking at a platter of dead puppies.”
“Despídete ya, chino,” Matias Restrepo growls in the background.
She giggles. Fucking giggles. The sound is so unexpected, I choke on my tongue. Jag and I lock eyes, wide and stunned, both of us frozen until she speaks again.
“He has a reputation to maintain,” she whispers. Another giggle. Then… “I’m going to let you go before he pops a blood vessel. I love you. Both of you.”
Jag clamps a hand over his mouth and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to hold himself together. The fearsome Vigilante is absolutely one breath away from tears.
Movement sounds on the line as a presence slides in and takes over the air.
“Tomorrow at dusk,” the jefe says, clipped and unmistakably in charge. “Same as last time.”
The call disconnects.
Jag lowers his hand, eyes damp and breath ragged. I stare at him, this brilliant, ruthless man undone by a giggle and three words of love, while my heart tries to beat itself out of my chest.
She’s safe. Comfortably safe. We’ll see her tomorrow, and until then…
What you choose to do together won’t hurt me.
The strain that’s been pulling between us for a month finally snaps.
We move at the same time and collide in a crash of mouths. Desperate and uncoordinated, the kiss seethes with hunger, relief, and everything we’ve been ignoring.
His hand flies to my hair. Mine fists in the waistband of his jeans. We consume each other with tongues and teeth, and the past eleven days drain out of me in a rush. Fear, pressure, the constant stab of what if, it all bleeds away beneath the unwavering assault of his lips.
His mouth dominates, and mine answers with equal fervor. We stumble, knock into furniture, and everything narrows to the rhythm of us breathing and grinding together.