Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
He probably should talk it over with either Lucas or Finn. The last thing he wanted to do was get this asshole coming after Olivia personally. He had to make sure whatever plan they came up with to deal with Gladen would protect Olivia.
Damn. He was not capable of concentrating this morning. He wished he was at the stupid feed store with Keane and Olivia. Not that he liked feed stores, but he did like them. He liked them quite a bit.
When he woke up this morning, he’d been filled with an energy he hadn’t had before. The energy of a guy who knew where he belonged.
With them.
But stupid work came between them again. He was too used to spending these hours during the day mostly with Olivia. Keane would come in for lunch, but it was him and Livie sitting in this office going over spreadsheets and arguing about business plans and financial projections. And yes, sometimes he would lock the door and they would go at it, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been conceived in this room, so it felt natural.
He glanced at the clock. They should be back in half an hour or so. He walked out to the overlook. Gabe stood on the ground floor wearing what Garrett had decided was Gabe Lodge’s uniform. Tank top, worn blue jeans, and work boots. Garrett was bi enough to know Gabe was pretty much as hot as they came, but he was happily in love so that masculine figure was all artwork. “Yeah? Everything okay?”
It had been a hell of a twenty-four hours. He was still waiting for the call from Deputy Morgan, who was going to update them all on what was happening with the case.
“We have a visitor, and I doubt she’s here to see me,” Gabe announced.
“Oh, you know I always love seeing you, Gabe,” a feminine voice said, and he heard footsteps on the hardwoods as a tall, gracefully made woman appeared.
Gabe snorted. “I think you like using me to make Jack jealous.”
The woman frowned. “Jack who?” She waved him off. “I’m here on serious business, Gabe. And there’s nothing between Jack and me but endless irritation.” She looked up. “You Garrett? You look like a Garrett.”
He wasn’t sure what a Garrett was supposed to look like, but he’d picked up on one important thing that had been said. He practically backed away. But it didn’t make any sense. Jack Barnes wasn’t a cheater. He looked at his subs like they were the sun in the sky. There was no way he was having an affair with a woman young enough to be his daughter. “Uhm, if you are here to try to get in good with Mr. Barnes, I’m afraid to tell you I don’t think he’ll ever be seduced. He loves his wife and his partner.”
Gabe guffawed.
The young woman’s nose wrinkled in obvious distaste. “Ewww. Jack Barnes is like my uncle. What is wrong with you?”
There was only one other Jack he knew. The black sheep of the O’Malley family, though he was the only one who thought that was true. Jack O’Malley was an FBI agent who thought he had let his family down by not working the ranch like his siblings. And now Garrett knew who he was dealing with. There was one person Jack pretended to not want to talk about but somehow managed to work into every conversation.
“Hello, Ruby.”
She walked up the stairs with confidence, a laptop bag over her shoulder. Within minutes she was set up.
Garrett looked at the woman sitting across from him. Ruby Lockwood was roughly thirty years old, with naturally curly hair and a stern expression that did nothing to lessen her beauty. She was lovely and exuded an air of competence that put him at ease. He’d worked with private investigators before, and he knew the look of a good one.
“What has you driving out here so early in the morning?” Garrett asked. “And can it wait until Olivia and Keane get back? They had to make a run into town for some errands.”
“After what happened last night, I thought this was best done in person. I think it’s time to consider moving Olivia to a secure location until we can catch this guy.”
“Guy? Are you talking about Scott?” He’d thought a lot about the man who’d been following Olivia around. He turned up wherever they happened to be. He’d tried to make himself cozy in this very office. Actually, it was surprising he wasn’t already here. They were supposed to meet again today to finish up all the details on the new deal, which had been surprisingly fair. Suspiciously fair. He had to wonder if Scott was doing it to get Olivia’s attention. Which made him wonder what else the man was doing to get her attention.