Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“And this Kedrov wants it back.”
“He’s been hunting us ever since we took it. That’s why Liam contacted me. To warn me they were closing in.”
Ice slides through my gut. “Contacted you how?”
“He showed up at my apartment,” Hailey says. “A few days ago. Told me Kedrov’s people had found me, that we needed to move fast. Get the diamond, return it anonymously, make the whole thing go away.”
“And you just went with him.” I’m not looking at her anymore. I’m looking at Liam. “He shows up after five years and says jump, and you book a flight to Canada.”
“It wasn’t like that—”
“So he dragged you here.” The cold in my gut is turning hot, spreading through my chest. “Into the middle of nowhere. With a Russian billionaire hunting you. And now we’re all locked in a cabin because his brilliant plan went sideways.”
“Knox—”
“Who grabbed you? Kedrov’s people?”
“No.” Liam pushes off from the fireplace. “Marlena Kade. She’s a collector. Art, jewelry, rare experiences. She’s been tracking the Snowflake for years, and when she found out we were coming to retrieve it, she grabbed us. She wants the diamond for herself, and she’s not letting us go until we tell her where it is.”
“So not only did you drag Hailey into the path of a Russian billionaire, you also managed to get her grabbed by some psychotic collector.” I take a step toward him. “That about cover it?”
Liam doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, just watches me with those dark eyes that used to make me forget my own name. Right now they make me want to break his nose. “She was already in danger. Kedrov was coming for her whether I showed up or not. I gave her a chance to get ahead of it.”
“Some chance.” Another step. We’re close now, close enough that I can see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, the small scar on his chin that wasn’t there before. “She had a life. A real life. She got out. And you showed up and burned it down.”
“I saved her life.”
“You put her in a cage.”
“Knox.” Hailey’s hand is on my arm, but I shake it off.
“This is what you did after you got out?” The anger is pouring out now, hot and bitter. “After everything we went through over there? You came home and became a thief?”
“You don’t know anything about what I did after.”
“I know you took an oath. Same as me. I know we watched people die for something that was supposed to mean something. And you came back and decided to steal from people for a living.”
“Spare me the lecture on honor, Knox. Not everyone got to come home and land a cushy security job.”
“You son of a bitch.”
I grab him by the collar of his shirt and shove him back against the wall. The impact rattles a picture frame. Liam’s hands come up but he doesn’t fight back, doesn’t try to break my grip. He just looks at me, and there’s anger in his face, yes, but that’s not all. There’s heat under it. Hunger.
“Feel better?” he asks, low enough that only I can hear.
“Not yet.”
“Knox, stop!” Hailey wedges herself between us, both palms flat on my chest, pushing. “This isn’t helping. Let him go.”
I don’t want to let him go. I want to knock his teeth out. I want to make him answer for every choice that led us here—Hailey scared and trapped, a twenty-million-dollar target on her back—all because he couldn’t leave well enough alone.
I want to know if he ever thinks about that night in the motor pool. If he remembers what almost happened. If it kept him awake the way it kept me awake.
“Knox.” Hailey’s voice is softer now. “Please.”
I let go. Step back. My hands are shaking and I ball them into fists to hide it.
Liam straightens his collar, and the bastard is almost smiling, which makes me want to hit him all over again. “That’s the reunion I get?”
“You’re lucky that’s all you got.”
“Am I?” He holds my gaze for a beat too long. “Felt like you were holding back.”
The words land somewhere low in my stomach. I tell myself it’s just adrenaline. Just the drugs still working through my system. It’s not the way his voice dropped on that last sentence, or the way his eyes flicked to my mouth for half a second before he looked away.
“We’re not doing this,” I say.
“Doing what?”
“Whatever game you’re playing. I’m here for Hailey. That’s it.”
Liam’s smile widens, just slightly. “Sure, Knox. Whatever you say.”
Hailey looks between us like she’s trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. “Okay. Clearly there’s some history here I don’t know about.”
“There’s no history,” I say.
“Absolutely none,” Liam agrees, and the way he says it makes it sound like the opposite.
Hailey’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t push. “Can we focus on getting out of here? You two can beat the hell out of each other later.”