Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 54(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 54(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
Her surprised laugh had me grinning. After my boots were off, I padded across the house in my socks, stopping in the kitchen. A woman who was essentially just an older version of Solace was sitting at the kitchen table, but she stood when I entered, a warm smile tilting her lips. “You must be Julian,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered, letting my mask fall into place, an easy smile tilting my lips. I didn’t want to do anything that might frighten her, and I knew my hard, blunt personality could do that sometimes, especially since I barely felt human seventy-five percent of the time. “Julian McKenzie.”
“You killed my ex-husband,” she said. Solace winced, shooting me an apologetic look, but I ignored her. I didn’t mind it when people were blunt. When they spoke exactly what was on their minds, there was little room for misunderstanding.
Nodding, I confirmed, “I did.”
She stepped forward and hugged me. I froze at the contact, not sure how to act for a moment, but then, I slowly folded my arms around her, letting her have this moment. I didn’t know what that sick son of a bitch had put her through, but whatever it was had been bad enough that she felt a need to personally thank me for taking him out.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her words muffled by my leather cut. “He was an evil, vindictive man. So, thank you.”
I slowly released her and stepped back. “No need to thank me, Miss…”
“Call me Ivy,” she said.
I smiled. “There’s no need to thank me, Ivy,” I assured her. “I was just taking the trash out.”
When she laughed, Solace smiled, and I swear to fuck, I got sucker-punched right in my solar plexus because suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.
There was no denying Solace was a sexy as fuck woman, but when she smiled and her guard was down, she was fucking beautiful. And me? I was a goddamn goner.
A woman who could take my shit, dish it back out, could kill with the best of them, and was soft for her family?
She was fucking perfect. And I wanted her.
CHAPTER 8
Julian
Solace walked with me out of the house, quietly shutting the front door behind her. Her mom had gone to bed shortly after dinner, claiming her medication made her sleepy. I’d bid her goodnight, let her hug me and thank me once again, and then helped Solace clean up the kitchen. Surprisingly, she hadn’t been snarky the entire evening, and when she happened to catch me staring at her—because fuck me, it was damn near impossible not to—she would just look away without saying a word.
Wasn’t sure if that meant she was softening toward me or if she was just waiting for her mom to be out of ear shot before she ripped me one about as good as Copper had the night before. I had no doubt that she could and would given the opportunity.
“Pizza was good,” I said, wanting to make conversation as we made our way toward my bike.
She cut me the side eye. “I didn’t even make it. I literally only ordered it and picked it up.”
I snorted. “Just take the compliment, doll.”
She rolled her eyes. I turned to face her once we’d reached my bike and shoved my hands into my hoodie pockets. “There’s no hard feelings about last night, is there?”
She sighed. “I want to have hard feelings, but honestly, if I were in your shoes, I’d have probably done the same thing. You were trying to protect yourself and complete your job, and you were eliminating a man who had a hand in trafficking people. Besides, I can’t really harbor any feelings about it when we’re literally in the same field.” She shrugged one slender shoulder. “If I’d have stopped you, my mom wouldn’t have had this day.” She looked up at me, warmth residing in those usually hard, cold, gray eyes. “I’ve never seen her this happy, Julian. Because of you, my mom might actually heal. She might actually get better and won’t need around the clock care anymore. So… thank you.”
I grinned at her. “That sounded painful to say.”
She lightly shoved me, but a smile played at the corners of her mouth. “It was.”
I let my eyes trail over her curvy figure before I turned and grabbed my helmet off the seat. She gripped my sleeve when I moved to straddle my bike. Slowly, I turned my head to face her, arching one eyebrow at her in question.
“Yes?” I asked when she only slowly released me and took a step back, shaking her head as if she were ridding herself of some ridiculous thought. “What is it, doll?”
“It’s nothing,” she muttered, turning and heading back for the house. I sighed and straddled my bike. The beast rumbled beneath me when I turned it on, and after I slid my helmet on and flipped my visor down, I glanced toward the house, finding her standing on the porch and just... watching me.