Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Sloan glared. “You just gave him the most dangerous task.”
Aiden glared right back. “He seems to think that you two are going to ride off into the sunset together. You choose him? Fine. So be it. But he’s got to prove himself.”
“You are so ruthless.” She sank as much disgust into the word as possible. Aiden was knowingly putting Jude in a situation where he might be hurt—or worse—and he didn’t have the grace to so much as pretend he was sorry.
“Sunshine.”
Her throat burned at the nickname, and she wanted nothing more than to snatch the phone out of her brother’s hand. There wasn’t time. “Jude.”
“Are you hurt?”
He was going to do it. It didn’t matter that her brother might have an ulterior motive for allying with him—temporarily or not. He would go into that apartment and do what needed to be done.
And there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it. “I’m fine.”
“I’m keeping my promise, sunshine. I’m tying up this last loose end, and then I’m coming for you, whether your brothers give their blessing or no. You know what will happen if they get in my way.”
She knew.
Aiden cleared his throat. “I gave my word, MacNamara.”
“We’ll see if you keep it.” Jude hung up.
“What the fuck was that?” Teague looked at Sloan and then Aiden. “Explain. Now.”
When Aiden didn’t immediately jump in, Sloan wrapped her arms around herself. “Dmitri Romanov is going to try to kill Callie and Colm—and he’s going to make it look like Jude did it.”
Teague was already moving, throwing open the door into the hall. “Micah. Call the men on Callie. Secure the entrances to the restaurant. Double the team in the restaurant.”
Callie.
Just because Jude thought he could handle the situation alone didn’t mean he could. If her family’s dealings with Dmitri Romanov had taught her anything, it was that the man had a nasty habit of doing the unexpected. If he was as smart as everyone said, he had to know Jude was having second thoughts about finishing the Sheridans.
If he thought Jude would break his word…
If he knew that Aiden was working with Jude…
Oh God. What if it was a trap designed to take out multiple enemies in one fell swoop? She looked at her brothers. They didn’t care about Jude…but they would move heaven and earth to keep family safe. “We have to go to them.”
Teague shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere. Our men can handle it.”
“Like they handled things at the house on Orcas Island? You don’t understand. Jude’s better than all of you combined. This is what he’s been training his entire life for.”
The confusion cleared from Teague’s face, leaving only fear in its wake. “He’s going after Callie?”
“Colm.” He already hated Jude. Telling him who he was gunning for wasn’t going to change that. But maybe it would ensure they took her with them.
Teague already had his phone out. “Triple the men on her. I don’t care if it’s rush hour. I’m on my way.” He pointed to Micah without looking up from his phone. “Put my sister in one of the guest rooms. Do not let her leave.”
“Aiden, you said you gave Jude your word!”
Her oldest brother shook his head as he typed a number into his phone. “Teague’s right on this one. You’ll be safest here until this is over. If your man is still alive at the end of it, we’ll talk.”
She barely got a cry of protest out when Micah did Teague’s bidding, hauling her up the stairs none too gently. Aiden’s last words all but confirmed her suspicions. He might not want Jude dead the same way Teague did, but he wouldn’t necessarily step in to save him if something happened.
I have to be there. I have to fight for Jude.
No one else is going to.
* * *
Jude used the cover of pedestrians to slip through the door that led to the loft above the little shops littering the street. When East Cambridge underwent the gentrification process back in the nineties, most of the old factories had been turned into commercial buildings and residential lofts. He’d snagged a loft across the street from the restaurant the Sheridans frequented ten years ago, paying out the nose for the location.
His phone rang as he hit the stairs, and he cursed at the now-familiar number. “What do you want?”
“As convenient as it would be for me if you took a bullet to the chest—again, from what I hear—I want Romanov more than I want you.”
Jude had spent enough time as a man on a vengeance mission to recognize that trait in another person. As much as Romanov wanted the O’Malleys dead and gone, it appeared Aiden wanted the same for him—with interest.
Still, all Jude wanted was to take out whoever Romanov had sent to frame him and get Sloan somewhere where they would be left alone. “I’m not interested in whatever war you’re planning.”