Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“No,” Wilder snarled, causing me to jump. “She’s not getting near him.”
Thatcher raised an eyebrow. “Want to tell Blaise that? Because he’s waiting on us to bring her to him.”
“FUCK!” Wilder roared.
“Maxon is chained up,” King said to him. “What are you worried about? He can’t hurt her.”
Wilder ran his fingers through his hair and then fisted his hands. “She shouldn’t have to be mixed up in this!”
“But she is. And we need goddamn answers. Carda is a big deal, and if we take them on, then Blaise is going to need to call in all the family’s backup,” Thatcher told him. Then, he looked at me. “Are you willing to do this?”
I nodded. I had to. They were right. I was already a part of this. I just didn’t know why.
“Why me? Why did they befriend me? I don’t understand,” I said still trying to grasp this all.
Thatcher shrugged. “Not sure. Perhaps they found the connection to the family by way of Wilder, when you applied for the job. A background check would have been run on you. They would have seen your relation to him. It’s interesting that after you quit working for them Daphne kept the connection, introduced you to Maxon. They were keeping you close.”
“I’m going in with her.” Wilder’s words sounded like a demand.
“He knows she’s connected to you. He probably knows about your past with her. They are thorough in their research. If he thinks you’re protecting her or laying a claim on her—like your territorial ass did the moment Sebastian spoke to her—then it’s going to work against us. You can’t go in with her. But Blaise said he’d have his best men there. Nothing is happening to her.”
“What do I need to do?” I asked before Wilder could say anything more.
“We have a flight to Ocala, and I’ll run through it all with you,” Thatcher assured me.
I stood up. “Okay. Then, let’s get this done.”
“Do we know who the guy”—Wilder paused and glanced at me—“that Maxon is demanding we return is?”
Thatcher’s expression didn’t change. It remained cold and unaffected. “Tanner Angelos. His sister’s fiancé.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Tanner? Funny goofball Tanner? He wasn’t dangerous. And they weren’t engaged. Was that yet another lie?
Maxon had a different air to him. Something that made me believe it was possible that he could be a bad guy. He was smart. Too smart, too educated, too refined for an underwear model. He tried to hide those things, but they showed up. I hadn’t thought much about it… until now.
“Tanner Angelos was behind a drug that is similar to crack, but is laced with shit that causes the user to become cannibalistic and at times attempt to eat someone alive. That is, if it doesn’t kill them first. We don’t want it in this region, and it’s showing up in high schools. Kids are getting ahold of this. The Carda family had been working with him on infiltrating this into the states for the past five years,” Thatcher said. “They’re killers. All of them. But we need to know more before we kill the Carda heir.”
Kill. They were going to kill Hamilton. No … Maxon. And cannibalism? I shivered. That sounded horrible.
I took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
I turned to Wilder then, who was watching me, as if he was considering throwing me over his shoulder and bolting. “I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he stalked out of the cave.
“He’ll calm down,” King said, then nodded for me to follow.
Sebastian moved over to walk beside me. “You’re still breaking hearts and taking names, it seems.” His tone was teasing.
I glanced at him and gave him a pointed look. “That’s not true, and you know it.”
His eyes went to the door ahead. “Looks like things have changed with him.”
I felt hope trying to burst free in my chest. Last night had been eye-opening for both of us, and then the sex had been … life-altering. We hadn’t gotten a chance to talk about it though.
“I think so,” I replied.
“He’s an idiot. He always has been when it comes to you.”
I smiled, but it didn’t meet my eyes. He had his reasons, and they weren’t mine to share. But I didn’t blame him. Not now that I knew the truth.
Thirty
Oakley
Thatcher went over everything with me, just like he’d promised, during our flight on a private jet that was owned by Garrett Hughes—Blaise’s father and the former boss of the family. Wilder, on the other hand, remained silent and rigid the entire flight. He stared out the window, and the only movement he made was the clenching of his jaw. I wanted to go reassure him that this was okay and I wasn’t in danger, but I didn’t think it would help.
Sebastian and King hadn’t come with us. They were staying back home. I’d heard them talking and I now knew that Wells was at the Shephard house with Storm. I had prepared myself to face Wells or attempted to mentally go over how to greet him. It had been years but there was so much bad water under that bridge. Thankfully I never had to face him. He’d made sure of that.