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)
Were there only two of them? Sure, they both had guns, but Jessica’s arm was trembling. She wasn’t used to holding a gun for long. It was both reassuring and concerning. She would be easy to disarm if he could get close, but she would also be unpredictable.
“Move in here,” Gladen ordered. “Who did you bring?”
“No one.” He had to act a bit in this situation. “I saw your car fleeing the scene. I was right behind you. The cops are useless, so I left Garrett with them and I came out searching for your car.”
Jessica looked out the door. “I don’t see anyone else. But I also don’t see a car.”
“I left it at the end of the road. Please let me talk to Olivia. I can convince her this isn’t a big deal,” he said.
“How do I know you’re not lying? How do I know you didn’t bring the cops?” Gladen sounded paranoid.
“Because if I’d brought the cops, do you think they would tell me to knock on the door? No. They would raid the place.” He needed to tell Taggart without alerting them. The micro camera couldn’t see the whole room. “Look, I understand that you’re nervous. There are only two of you, but you have all the power. You have the guns and you have her, so I’m not going to do anything that could risk her life. You can tie me up.”
Two more minutes and Taggart and his team would be here. He needed to get close to her.
Gladen’s eyes narrowed. “Or I can cut my losses and flee the country.”
He moved his gun up, and Keane was out of time. He flung his body directly at Olivia, pain flashing through his shoulder as he took the bullet meant for her head. They hit the floor as the world exploded around them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Olivia held Keane’s hand and felt Garrett’s arm around her shoulder as they sat in her father’s office. She looked up at her brothers—who were supposed to be on their honeymoon.
“You didn’t have to come back.” Olivia felt guilty. Guilty about Keane getting shot. Guilty about being stupid enough to get kidnapped by idiots who didn’t even have a backup plan. Guilty about how much money her dad spent sending in a paramilitary team to rescue her. “I hate the fact that this disrupted your honeymoon.”
But mostly she felt bad about Keane, who had to have surgery, and now he was going to have weeks of recovery.
Josh frowned down at her. “My sister got kidnapped. Believe me, none of us wanted to sit in a luxury resort while you were being tortured.”
She sighed and waved him off. “It was some hair pulling. And a couple of bitch slaps. I will get laughed at in the kidnapping brackets. I won’t make it out of the first round.”
“I will beat the shit out of anyone who laughs at you,” Keane promised.
Josh’s eyes lit up with amusement. “Oh, I would like to see you take on Kala Taggart. She’ll be the one laughing.”
“See, there was a good kidnapping,” Olivia complained. “She was kidnapped by a ruthless sociopath who wanted to burn down the world and rule over the ashes. He had real torture devices. I had Jessica freaking Fellows and a stun gun I’m pretty sure she got on sale at Walmart. Honestly, the real torture was having to listen to Scott whine.”
“I thought that was supposed to be classified,” Grim pointed out.
Olivia shrugged. “Kala claims what’s said at the club stays at the club.”
“We are not in a club.” Garrett was always technically precise.
“It was more than hair pulling.” Keane ignored her, meeting Josh’s gaze. They had already had one of those man-to-man talks, except it was a whole bunch of men she was related to questioning her men. Though the fact that Keane had taken a bullet for her seemed to have completely swayed her dad to Team KG, as she was calling it now. They seemed to be fitting in nicely. So nicely that Keane wasn’t willing to let her underplay what happened. “They drugged her and used a stun gun on her. They tied her so tight she’s still got marks on her wrists. They were going to kill her.”
Grim nodded. “Yeah, I noticed those. I almost wish they weren’t in jail. I’d like to have a word.”
She bet her brothers would. She was thankful her men hadn’t gotten a shot at them. They deserved what was coming, but she didn’t want her guys to get caught up in a potential murder charge.
Morgan had shown up with a couple of deputies and Ruby a few minutes after the McKay-Taggart team took down Jessica and Gladen, who both ended up crying like babies. Oddly, so had Scott, and he wasn’t even under arrest. It appeared her ex-boyfriend was having a crisis. If she hadn’t been worried Keane was dying, it would have been funny, but it wasn’t. She could still feel his body pressed over hers, his face ashen as he told her not to move. He forced her to stay there until Taggart called the all clear. She’d held him, her hands getting wet with his blood, and all the man had cared about was her.