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)
“Oh, she told me lots of random shit. She was always vague and, I’ll be honest, I really thought it was her dementia talking. She loves to read spy novels. Sometimes, she’ll scoff at them and say it’s not realistic or something, but I never thought she was really in the CIA. I thought her mind was…”
“I understand.” Crush gave me a tight smile. “I can also assure you that our grandmother always has a reason for what she does. Even if it’s not something we all agree with. She is not senile or weak of mind in any way.” He held my gaze for several seconds before reaching toward the camera and disconnecting the call.
I took a shaky breath, tucked the phone in my pocket before collapsing on my sofa in a heap. Great. Not only did I have some time to kill, but I probably had also insulted Mrs. Walsh’s grandsons. Awesome.
Why? Why did I do this to myself? I was just going to take off with a couple of hot bikers with no clear destination or purpose. The thing was, no matter how much I told myself this was a bad idea, it all came down to whether or not I trusted Mrs. Walsh was in her right mind, and that she wasn’t setting me up for something nefarious. The second was laughable. Mrs. Walsh genuinely liked me, I was certain of it. The first? Yeah. Jury was still out on that one.
Or, maybe it was me who needed the reality check.
Chapter Three
Crush
I was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.
I stared at the blank screen where River’s face had been seconds before, a face that had no business crawling under my skin the way it had. Those wide, honest eyes. That nervous little half smile when she’d tried to act brave. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear without even realizing she was doing it.
“You look like someone just punched you in the dick,” Byte said, leaning back in his chair with a knowing smirk. “She’s cute.”
I grunted, refusing to give him the satisfaction. “She’s a complication we don’t need.”
“Bullshit. You were practically drooling through the screen.”
“Focus, Byte.” I pulled up the secure messaging app on my laptop and started typing to Wylde at the Iron Tzars. “We need to make sure Wylde gets someone from the Tzars in Castle Rock to that diner on time. I don’t want her sitting there alone any longer than necessary.”
“Because you’re worried about her safety,” Byte said, his voice dripping with mock sincerity. “Not because you’re already feeling possessive.”
“Why the fuck would I feel possessive?” I was totally feeling possessive. Which was going to be a problem if I couldn’t get myself under control.
As always, my brother could read me like a fucking book. “Uh-huh. I’ll remind you of this conversation later.”
I sat in my office, staring at the screen where River’s face had been just moments before. The space was more than our command center. It was home. Our apartment was on the interior of our office and consisted of two bedrooms, two baths, and a combo living/kitchen area. Pretty standard for all the apartments in the warehouses. Two bedrooms so the occupant had an office if he wanted it, but me and Byte lived together. I worked the four years Byte was in high school, then we both headed to the military. Together. So, we used both our bedrooms as bedrooms and our office as, well, our office.
I ran a hand through my hair and kept replaying her voice. Byte would have this call archived, already marked and filed. I considered calling the video back up, but if Byte caught me I’d never hear the end of it.
Instead, I thumbed through the notepad where I kept Maggie’s phrases. My grandmother had a code for everything and a code for the code. She’d prepped us for this shit since we were old enough to tie our shoes. It was a game when we were younger, but when we’d been in the military, her lessons had been invaluable.
“We need to arrange transportation,” I muttered to Byte. “I’m not driving all the way to fucking Washington state.”
Byte shrugged. “We can get her a plane ticket and bring her here.”
I shot my brother an annoyed look. “You know better than that. Maggie wants us out there with this girl. She’s meddlin’ with River’s life. The least we can do is go along to make sure this girl stays out of trouble.”
“Meddlin’ in our lives as much as she is that girl’s.”
I turned to my brother, scrubbing a hand over my face and down my short beard. “How many fuckin’ times is she gonna throw a woman at us?”
“My guess is until she gets some great-grandbabies, but what do I know?” Byte crossed to the mini fridge, grabbed two bottles of beer, and tossed me one. “She’s definitely up to her old tricks.”