Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
As she debated whether she should grab Wraith’s cooler, Lucien said her name from behind. She whirled to face him.
“Go to the cabin. Wraith will take care of it.”
She nodded and slung her bag over her shoulder. Turning, she walked toward the door.
“Caroline.”
When she spun to face Lucien, he added, “Not everything is as it appears. Trust Wraith.”
“Okay,” she whispered and dashed for the door.
A few minutes later, she sat in her car and tried to figure out what had happened. A man had gotten shot and horribly wounded. Razor had identified himself as a doctor to the EMTs. Even she had noticed his skill as he worked to save the man’s life. Then Lucien had sent everyone to hide the cargo. What was going on?
CHAPTER 11
Wraith stepped off his bike, and the last dregs of his energy evaporated. As he removed his helmet, he struggled to pull himself together to present a better image for Caroline. She’d have a lot of questions. With a shake of his head, he grabbed his cooler from its spot, secured on his rear rack by bungie cords, to go inside.
Turning around, he headed for the kitchen entrance from the garage and stopped in his tracks. Caroline sat quietly on the step with her arms wrapped around her shins. “Hi, Precious.”
“Hi, Daddy. Are you okay?”
“I am. I bet you got scared today.” He didn’t tell her he’d called the front gate several times to see if she’d left.
She nodded. “I bet you can’t share with me what happened.”
“Not everything. I can tell you that Hellcat made it through surgery with flying colors. He’s going to be fine in a couple of days.”
“I’m glad. Are you okay?”
“Tired. But glad to come home to you. I was afraid you’d leave.”
“I won’t do that,” Caroline promised.
The tension that had built inside him all afternoon unraveled. Caroline hadn’t run. Despite the frightening incident, she’d hung around. “Thank you, Little girl. Let’s go inside, and I’ll make us some dinner.” He held out a hand for hers and tugged Caroline to her feet. Wrapping his arm around her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead before opening the door.
The aroma of Italian spices, tomato, and cheese filled his senses. Wraith’s stomach growled loudly. “That smells amazing. Did you cook?”
“I got pizza delivered to the front gate.”
“Romanelli’s?” he asked, inhaling deeply. “I saw Pirate at the gate inhaling a pizza.”
“I got an extra one for whoever was on duty. Smelling Romanelli’s without a pizza to eat is torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
“You’ve made a buddy for life. No wonder Pirate greeted me with a smile. That guy’s never happy. I don’t scare easily, but that grin gave me the willies,” Wraith admitted, loving her grin in response.
“He is very serious. Pirate couldn’t believe I brought him a paper plate, napkins, and some plasticware for his meal,” she told Wraith.
A bark of laughter erupted from him at the thought of Pirate dabbing his mouth with a napkin and eating with a plastic fork. “Some men have no manners.” He set the cooler down on the table and pulled her close. “Guess what I need more than half of that pizza in my belly.”
Clueless, Caroline stared up at him in concern before slowly shaking her head and shrugging.
“Twelve kisses.”
“Why twelve?” she asked in confusion.
“Because I’m a greedy bastard who really wants twenty, but I’m also so hungry I could eat that cardboard box. It seemed like a reasonable number to tide me over until after dinner.”
“You!” she said, swatting playfully at his chest. Caroline rose onto her tiptoes to press her lips to his.
To Wraith’s delight, she didn’t start with a sweet, light smooch. His Little girl seemed to realize what he needed. She demanded his attention and got it. On kiss number ten, she dropped to her heels.
“Wait. I get two more,” he reminded her.
“Not until you eat something. I can feel you getting emaciated.” She patted his hard abdomen.
“I’ll let you win this one, Precious.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
Wraith put two large pieces on a plate she’d already set out and handed it to her. “Go sit at the table.” After grabbing a slice for himself and taking a huge bite, he grabbed the pizza box from the counter and carried it with him. When she hesitated to choose a chair, he put the box on the table before pulling out one next to his normal spot. He waited for her to sit before sliding the chair into place. Munching on the slice in his hand, Wraith selected two bottles of water from the fridge and brought them to the table.
He popped the last bite into his mouth and opened her bottle as he joined her. “Drink. I’m willing to bet you haven’t had enough water today.”
She rolled her eyes at him but followed his directions. Yep, he was right.