Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
I shut the door with a hard thud before advancing on Joilyn. “Is that a threat?” I bared my teeth at her and she recoiled. But, again, I saw something in her eyes that said she wasn’t at all intimidated by me.
“What? That I’d kill myself? You can rest assured I’d never take my own life, Falcon.”
“No. I don’t think you would. But that wasn’t the threat. The threat was in what you didn’t say. You’re willing to die for me. But I’m also betting you’re willing to kill.”
She shrugged. “Dying’s much harder than killing.”
“Oh, dying can most certainly be harder than killing. Especially if you hurt someone who belongs to me. I’m going to pretend I don’t know what your assignment is. But don’t expect to get into Grim Road. You’ll have to figure something else out.”
That drew what seemed to be a genuinely shocked expression from her. “What?”
“I’ll go tell your… handler you’re not getting into Grim Road and to make some other arrangements for you.”
“You said you’d help me.”
“And I will. But living at Grim Road is not on the table.” Once again, I turned to go. I needed to think about what I was going to do next. Which meant staying longer than I’d planned at Salvation’s Bane. I needed to get in touch with Lemon. Tell her what was going on. But most of all, I needed her to bring Gina with her. I absolutely could not spend another night away from her. “Joilyn? If you can get out of the CIA, you need to do it now. Scout said he didn’t tell them, but I’m betting you told them. They told you to use Scout to get inside Grim Road. If you want out, Scout can help you. But you’re not getting into Grim Road, whether you leave them or not. You might want to consider making the appropriate apology to Scout so you at least have the option of exiting the agency for real this time. Before they have you doing things you can’t come back from.”
Chapter Nine
Gina
Falcon texted me to let me know he was good and on a plane heading home. I wanted to call him but figured he’d reach out to me if he could. Since I had no idea what was involved with calling home when he was on an assignment, I didn’t know the protocol. I couldn’t help but constantly look out the window, hoping to see him coming home. True to her word, Lemon didn’t leave my side for the entire three days since Falcon had left.
It had now been several hours since I’d gotten that text and no word. I was starting to get worried. What if something had happened to him?
“Rocket says everything’s fine.” Lemon read the message from her phone. “He said they were meeting at Salvation’s Bane and he’ll be by to get us in a bit.”
“You mean, leave the compound?” My heart rate sped up. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. I heard the women talk. Falcon was pretty popular. Seeing one of them touch him, or having them compete for his attention might break me at this point. I’d latched on to him, even believing he would eventually break my heart.
“No one’s gonna hurt you, you know.” Lemon spoke gently, covering my hand with hers and squeezing lightly. Lemon wasn’t overly demonstrative toward others, but she did offer affection when she considered it necessary. “I won’t let them.”
“You’re not much older than me, Lemon. How do you wield so much power so effortlessly?”
She gave me an almost evil smile. “I sacrifice the genitals of all the men whose balls I’ve busted. Highly recommend it. Keeps a happy home.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Whatever happened after all this, I would always be grateful for Lemon’s friendship.
There was a rumbling of a vehicle outside the house and Lemon stood, tugging me to my feet. “That’s Rocket. He’s takin’ us to the Bane compound. Knox and Bear are following us so we’ll have room to bring home Falcon and Rattler.”
I glanced around the room. Cecilia and Olivia were here now. The others had been rotating sitting with me and Lemon. Also, the kids had been over during the day. We’d made and eaten so many cookies I was afraid they might turn into one. Lemon had told me numerous times she wanted Grim Road to be a home. Well, as far as I was concerned, she’d succeeded in spades.
We rode in silence. I was too nervous to carry on a conversation, but it only took us twenty minutes to get there anyway. By the time we rolled inside the chain-link fence I really thought I was going to throw up.
There were several people outside, talking, drinking beer, smoking. They appeared somber, but friendly.