Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
A woman’s voice came through—calm, clipped, and professional.
“Hey, Wes. I forgot to mention something yesterday at the hotel. We had to pull Detective Tiramani, the other guy we had on the inside back in New York, because we heard chatter that one of Vince’s guys was asking questions about him. Apparently, Tiramani ran into one of Vince’s captains who was out to dinner with his nephew and his nephew’s friend. The friend recognized Tiramani and asked if they’d ever met before. Tiramani lied and said no, but the truth is, he’d locked the kid up a few years ago for possession of stolen goods. We thought Tiramani pulled it off and everything was fine, but then the uncle started asking around about him a few days later. We had to be safe rather than sorry. None of this has anything to do with you, or the operation you’ve got going on out there with the daughter. There’s no indication your cover is blown, but I wanted to let you know anyway.”
Then there was a soft click, not nearly as dramatic an ending as it should’ve been for something that had rocked my entire world.
Holy shit.
Wes hadn’t been lying about not having an affair.
This lie was worse.
So, so much worse.
He was still a cop.
And he was undercover.
Using me to get to my dad.
All this time I’d thought my father was the only crooked person in this situation. Turned out I was wrong.
Wes was the crook.
I stood frozen for a minute, the flip phone in my hand, until I suddenly realized I couldn’t hear the water running in the shower anymore. Panicked, I tossed the cell back into the sweatshirt and shoved the duffel under the bed.
I barely had time to get to my feet before the bathroom door opened. Wes walked out, wrapped in a towel, hair still wet, like nothing had happened. Fury burned hot in me, yet I managed to breathe. I needed time to think. To plan. To figure out what the hell to do.
He smiled. “Hey. You’re home.”
“Yes, but…I forgot something at my agent’s. I need to go.”
“What did you—”
Wes didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as I tore ass from the bedroom, bolted through the living room, and grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter. I was at the front door before he caught up.
“Hey. Hang on. Is everything okay?”
“Fine. I just need to go.”
The guards fell in step behind me as I walked out of the house and toward my car. I didn’t look back as I got in, started the engine, and took off like a bat out of hell. At the corner, I nearly smashed into a stopped delivery van before slamming on the brakes. Then I drove, barely seeing the road, until I arrived at my agent’s building. My bodyguards parked next to me, not looking too happy. I rolled down the window and spoke to the one in the driver’s seat.
“Change of plans. My meeting is a video call. I’m doing it here from the car.”
“Okay.”
Rolling the window back up, I’d at least bought myself some time. Time to think, to replay every moment since the day I met Wes. What had I told him? Had I compromised my father? Given him information that he could use against him? I’d told the man about my childhood, for God’s sake—confided things I’d never trusted to anyone. Because I’d thought he was one of us. On my side. I’d thought he was mine.
Questions spun in my head until it hurt, pounding with the worst headache.
What should I do now? If I told my father, Wes was a dead man. If I did nothing, I’d be putting my father more at risk than I already had. I hated the choices, hated how torn I felt about who to save. The man I loved had betrayed me. Everything he’d ever said or done had been an act. My tears came, sudden and heavy.
I have no idea how long I sat there, but eventually, the tears stopped. I wiped my face, cleared my head, and slammed the car into drive.
Wes was on the couch when I walked in. Dressed, hair now dry, he stood. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
I’d rehearsed what I was going to say on the drive home, but when I opened my mouth to speak, even I was surprised at how emotionless my voice was. “Sit at the table,” I said.
Wes’s brows dipped. “What happened? Did—”
“Shut the fuck up and sit your ass in the chair!” My voice was loud and cold. I sounded a lot like my father.
Wes was a smart man, though. Lord knows he’d fooled me into believing I meant something to him all this time. So he walked to the table and took a seat. “What happened? Juliette, talk to—”