Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Deal,” the man in the chair said immediately. “I knew it was a long shot considering who you are, and that Hawk Bristol is running your security. If I’d known you had any of Silas’s people here too—” He glanced to Ryder and then Eli. “I wouldn’t have touched this one, even for that much money. You let me leave, I’ll make sure everyone knows there’s nothing here for them, and you’ll never see me again.”
“Fine.” Ryder walked around to the back of the chair and grabbed the sniper’s bound hands. He cut him loose from where he was strapped to the seat and hauled him to his feet. “Let’s go. You can tell me where you left your vehicle. We’ll drop you there and escort you to the county line.”
We watched on the screen as, one by one, they filed out of the room. I turned to Wren. “Thanks. I feel better, I think, seeing that.”
“No problem,” she said. “For the record, I can’t speak for your guy. I don’t know him. But civilians tend to overreact when people they care about get all bloody and cut up. Still, ‘overreact’ is the operative word there. You look fine to me.”
I nodded, though I felt anything but fine.
“But,” she said, her eyes dead serious on mine, “did Eli say anything when Ford dumped you? That you should stay away from him to keep yourself safe?”
“He did,” I admitted, grudgingly.
Wren gave a decisive nod. “I’d listen to Eli.” She cocked her head to the side. “I’m assuming Griffen agreed, too?”
I nodded.
“Then there you go. Your guy may be a jackass at the moment—probably freaked the hell out, considering you both almost got shot. That one—” She nodded her head at the hall, as they escorted the sniper past the open door. “I know him by reputation. He’s one of the best. You got very lucky. Do what they tell you. We’ll get this thing wrapped up. Then everyone can go back to living a normal life. And you can decide what to do about Ford.”
Hawk ducked his head into the room, interrupting the conversation. “Ryder wants you,” he said to Wren.
“Gotcha,” and she was gone.
He looked to me. “You’re good to go,” he said. “Take some Advil before you go to bed. We’ll check that cut in the morning.”
“It’s fine,” I said automatically.
All the same, he nodded. “Keep the blinds closed on your window. Nobody’s aiming at you, but we’re not taking any chances. Understand?”
I nodded, suddenly exhausted. “I’m going to go to bed,” I said quietly, trudging up the flights of stairs and down the long hall of the guest wing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
PAIGE
When I reached the end of the hall, Ford’s door was open, his room dark. I didn’t know where he was. Not that it mattered. Not anymore.
My chest felt as if it had been caved in. I wasn’t sure what fantasies I’d been spinning in my mind, in my heart, over Ford Sawyer—more than I’d thought, considering how wrecked I felt to have them shattered.
He said he loved me, but I didn’t feel loved. I felt manipulated and pushed aside. Abandoned.
That was it. I felt fucking abandoned.
And it sucked. I wasn’t a toy to be put down and picked back up later when he wanted to play again.
I went into my room. Turning to my closet, I realized I was still wearing Ford’s robe. I didn’t want his robe. I didn’t want anything of his, not anymore. I untied the belt and pushed it down my arms, careful around the bandages, then balled it up and threw it across the hall. It landed short of Ford’s door, but he would get the message.
Closing my own door, I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of knit shorts. At once thoroughly exhausted and too revved up to sleep, I was thinking about a cup of tea when a quick knock sounded on my door.
“Yeah,” I said, lacking the energy to go open it. “Come in.”
The door swung open, and Hope was there, a baby monitor playing staticky ocean sounds in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other. She walked in, Savannah following with three wineglasses in her hands and what looked like a bottle of ibuprofen tucked under her arm.
“Hey, you can kick us out if you want,” Hope said, “but we come bearing wine and shoulders to cry on.”
“We heard Ford’s being an ass,” Savannah added. “Not a surprise.”
I stared at both of them, my jaw dropping. “How do you know everything as soon as it happens?”
“That’s my job,” Savannah said. “Hope just comes by it naturally.”
“Do you want a glass of wine, or do you want us to leave you alone?” Hope asked, setting the wine on the beverage station Savannah had arranged in the sitting area of my room. “Just so you know, if you want us to go, we will. But we won’t leave you alone for long.”