Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Well. Consider me slapped back.
He has a point, a voice whispered in my head, but instead of addressing that, I put my headphones on and turned up my music.
There was a slight sting in my mouth, though.
• • •
Here it was. Here was the time, as I looked out my window on a private plane over West Virginia, that I needed to do some soul-searching. Kai had been right with what he said before.
I did know who he was. I knew the family he led. I knew the lengths he would go to, had gone to already, and I’d stayed.
I knew who I had let inside my body.
But I was still twisted up inside. I needed to decide: stay or go. Help Brooke or just leave.
Sleep with him again, or not.
It had to end.
It had felt right to get those coordinates from Blade. It felt right to get a text message about finding someone, so I had to go help that someone. That synced perfectly inside of me. It was what I was meant to do.
Then I walked out into the main cabin of the airplane and there was an entire envoy of mafia guards, as well as their leader. He was actually sleeping for once, his head resting back on his seat. And yes, I felt the tug inside.
Full lips. A jawline that melted me. Cheekbones that said, “Oh hello there.” And those eyes that could undress me with a look. They almost had. But Kai’s looks weren’t the problem, though they contributed. It was more. There was something in him that beckoned to me.
I hated what he did. But I didn’t hate him.
I lusted after him. But I loathed his job.
Still, my physical weakness—or whatever was going on—wasn’t right. Remembering how I’d felt when I got Blade’s text, I knew my decision. Kai wasn’t the issue, not really. I wanted to remain with the Network. I wanted to keep helping people. I had to. It had once been me who needed help. It’d been my mother. There were others out there like us.
Kai and me, we had to end. No more.
I returned to my seat by the window and thumbed up my volume. Anything to distract me, because I didn’t want to feel the boulder in my stomach.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
We landed in Minneapolis and were quickly swept into the back of a car this time, rather than an SUV. The guards had those. Kai and I had two guards with us, counting the driver, but it seemed more intimate, more quaint.
I looked over at Kai, who was watching out the window, and for a split second I felt like we were all friends road-tripping to see another friend.
“Aren’t they supposed to have snow here?” I asked.
Kai turned to look at me, his eyebrows pinched together. “You live in Canada.”
I kept my face neutral. “I know.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re fucking with us.”
It was summer. Of course I was fucking with them.
But I still hid my grin, feeling a bit punchy. “Can I choose the next house we stay at? I mean, you guys rent them, right? You haven’t bought all of them…”
Kai’s expression didn’t waver.
Shit. He did.
“Really?” I choked out.
His nod was faint. “Except the hotel. And who said we’re staying anywhere?”
That shut me up—for a moment. “We’re going to Brooke right now? I thought there’d be a plan, a meeting time, blueprints plastered on the wall. You know…” I waved my hands in the air. “A whole marker board that we can flip over and start writing on the other side when a new idea comes to us.”
He sat motionless. “Is that what you do on your 411 missions?”
“No.” Look at that, my pants became so interesting. I dusted off some lint.
Kai must’ve taken pity on me. “We are staying somewhere,” he relented. “But we’re picking up my sister first.”
Forget the lint. My head whipped back up. “We’re going now?”
He nodded, returning to his phone. “Mmmm-hmmm.”
“But—” My mouth was gaping.
They were moving too fast. Things had to be planned. I wasn’t kidding now.
“What’s the plan?” I snorted. “Going up and knocking?”
“Generally. Yeah.”
Again with the gaping mouth. “Are you serious? You can’t be serious. Brooke will…” Jonah had told me to go. Wait. No. Tanner said that. “Tanner said you needed my help or Brooke will do something stupid. She’ll get someone killed.”
Kai remained focused on his phone, scrolling up to read something. “Tanner lied to you.”
“But, why would he lie to me?”
“Because he didn’t want to babysit you?” Kai sighed, putting his phone away and resting his head against his headrest. He looked me over, a faint trace of amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Tanner had a friend putting on a show at Fortune. He didn’t want to drive all the way to Cowtown with you.”
I… I had no words.