Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 47822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Just like he had with Claw and Hammer.
That was a dark time in Grim Road I hated thinking about. It had taken both of us a long time to gather everything we had on both men. The evidence had been damning from the very beginning, but Byte had refused to issue judgment until he’d found every scrap of information he could because he knew the consequences of the transgressions would mean a death sentence for both men. He wanted to make sure he could live with his own consequences, and that meant making Goddamned good and sure the information he’d dug up was solid.
I chose not to comment on Byte’s observation our grandmother likely intended for one of us to claim River. Instead, I confirmed the plane I’d commandeered would be ready in an hour, then slid back from my desk. “We need to leave for the airport in fifteen minutes. I want to leave the second we can.”
“You’re avoiding the issue.” Byte actually smirked, like he’d gotten one over on me. Which, I guess he had. A relationship with a woman wasn’t something that had been on my radar for a very long fucking time. We fucked club whores. And yeah, we’d shared one on more than one occasion. But I wasn’t sure I was ready for this. Not yet.
“I am.” I didn’t even try to deny he was right. “And I’m going to continue to avoid the issue until I have a chance to think about it.”
Byte shrugged. “What’s to think about? We’ve shared women before. You help me not be a dick. No pun intended.”
“I know. But that was just sex.”
He shrugged. “No one said this had to be anything other than sex.”
I gave him the side eye, only to find him giving me the side eye. “Later, Byte. Let it rest for now. Maggie wants us to take this girl on an adventure, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Whatever you say, big brother.”
I tuned Byte out. He was trying to goad me, and I wasn’t going to enable him. Instead, my thoughts drifted back to the girl with the shy smile. I hated how much I wanted to see her again. I really, really fucking hated it.
* * *
Seven hours at thirty-seven thousand feet with Byte was the kind of punishment that, in some religions, counted as penance. Private jet or not, my knees were jacked up from sitting and my nerves were raw. I’d never been a good flyer, but at least this wasn’t a commercial flight where I had to deal with armrest wars and some stranger snoring on my shoulder. It was just me, my brother, and a fridge stocked with enough beer and sandwich meat to keep us alive until we hit the ground in Vancouver, Washington.
Byte was stretched across two leather recliners, booted feet up, arms folded behind his head, watching some classic heist movie with a glazed-over look that said he’d mentally solved the entire plot during the opening credits. He’d been that way since wheels-up. Checked out. This was how he rested without actually sleeping. I thought it was weird as fuck, but it worked for him so I didn’t judge.
I, on the other hand, was on my fifth bottle of beer and my seventh time scrolling through the flight tracker on my phone. Patience wasn’t my strong suit, and the more I thought about River the more I wanted to just get there already.
Byte burped, loudly and theatrically, and set his empty bottle on the armrest with a soft clunk. “You gonna burn a hole in that screen, or do you want to actually talk about what we’re doing?”
“Just checking our ETA.”
“Again.” He grinned at me, sharp and knowing. “You wanna tell me what’s really got you wound up?”
I set my phone on the table between us, maybe a little harder than intended. “We’re disrupting her whole life for one of Grandma’s games. That’s what’s got me wound up.”
Byte shrugged, not even pretending to be bothered. “Is it really a disruption if she has nothing tying her down and goes willingly?”
“She also needs the paycheck.” I fished another beer from the fridge, popped it, and took a long pull. “We’re kidnapping her. That’s what this is, no matter what you call it.”
“Nah,” he said, grinning wider. “We’re rescuing her from a boring existence.”
“What’s the endgame, Byte? We bring her back to Riviera Beach and put her up in an apartment? She can’t come to the compound unless we claim her and I’m pretty Goddamned sure she’s not going to want that after talking to us for a whole five minutes.” I took another pull of my beer. I was starting to feel more than a little buzzed. We still had another few hours before we landed and I needed to let my head clear before we picked her up in Castle Rock at the Iron Tzars compound. “She’ll get bored and leave pretty Goddamned quick when she realizes we’re keeping secrets.”