Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
If looks could kill, Galen would be a steaming puddle at Meg’s feet. “I’m not an idiot. I realize that you need to secure the house. If I stay out here, what’s to stop someone from snatching me while you’re occupied in there?”
Galen stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You’ve got a smart mouth, Meg.”
“Don’t try to intimidate me with your size just because I’m right and you don’t want to admit it.” She crossed her arms over her chest and somehow managed to look down her nose at Galen despite his having a good ten inches on her. “I’ll be quiet and follow orders, but I’m not sitting out here.”
Galen glanced at Theo, but Theo gave a slight shrug. It wasn’t his rodeo, and he’d support whatever decision Galen made when it came to this. Finally, Galen cursed. “You’re with me. You act too much a pain in the ass and I’ll shove you in a closet to wait until we’re done.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
Galen turned away from her, hiding a faint smile. Oh yeah, he liked Meg’s smart mouth just as much as Theo did.
Theo set aside his plotting for the time being. He wasn’t as good with a gun as Galen was—no one could match Galen’s skill—but he was more than decent, and distraction was unacceptable for the task ahead of them. The house wasn’t tiny so it would take time to get through. The upstairs consisted of six bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and walk-in closet. Downstairs was a massive kitchen, another three bathrooms, living room, and a smattering of other rooms for a variety of purposes. Clearing it would be a bitch.
He fell into the old pattern of things, moving several steps behind Galen, keeping Meg between them. He didn’t need instructions to know that if shit hit the fan, he was to take Meg and get the hell out of there while Galen dealt with the threat. “Ready?”
Galen nodded. “Let’s do this."
7
If Meg wasn’t hip to how fucked her situation was, accompanying Galen and Theo while they cleared the house would have brought the whole thing home. They moved as a unit that barely accounted for her presence, as if they had done this kind of thing countless times before. She kept up with them, and in her heart of hearts, she knew that if they came across someone who wanted to hurt them—to hurt her—they would dispatch that person without mercy.
It should have scared her.
It did, in a way.
But it also wrapped around her like the strangest safety net she’d ever experienced.
Knowing that anyone who wanted to get to her had to go through both of these men… Yeah, no one was getting to her. It wasn’t enough to make her forgive them for putting her in this situation to begin with, but it softened something brittle inside her that had spent the last twelve hours on the verge of breaking. She might be on a path she never could have anticipated, but at least she wasn’t alone.
It took longer than she could have anticipated to clear the house, but finally Galen pronounced himself satisfied. He led the way back to the kitchen, and Meg allowed herself to take in the place without the threat of someone being there hanging over their heads. Even knowing Theo had commissioned a renovation inside, she’d still expected to find the place in shambles based on the appearance of the outside.
She was wrong.
It was downright homey. The floors beneath her boots were hardwood that shone in the low light coming from the windows clouded with age. The walls were a strange mix of exposed stone and a soothing off-white color that she couldn’t quite call eggshell. All the accents were a rustic wrought iron that served as a reminder that they were in a modern-day fairytale mansion. The only way it could get more fantastical was if there were turrets and it was an honest-to-god castle.
They congregated in the kitchen. Galen combed through the pantry and then the fridge, and cursed. “I thought he would have been here by now.”
“We didn’t give him much notice.” Theo checked his phone. “Speak of the devil. He’ll be here in ten.” He lifted his gaze and focused on Meg. “Why don’t you go make use of that monster of a tub I paid through the nose for? We won’t be long.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I didn’t invite you up.” Though, damn it, her body tingled with the possibilities to be had in the oversized tub. It could easily fit all three of them and—No, I am not here to let them bang away what little brains I have left.
Theo raised his brows with a knowing smile, as if he knew the direction of her thoughts. “Another time, then.”