Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
"Yes."
"Call me if you need anything."
"I will," I promise. "But I'll be okay here."
Even after I tell him that, he still hesitates, clearly reluctant to leave me here with Agent Bethel and Mila. His indecision makes my heart flutter. He may not want me like I want him, but he cares about what happens to me.
I reach out and lay my hand on his arm, trying to comfort him as he's done for me so many times since coming to my rescue. The combination of heat and smooth skin over hard muscle sends energy humming through me. My nipples harden, and heat pools low in my stomach.
"Prometo que estoy bien. Te confío mi seguridad." I promise I'll be okay. I trust you with my safety. It's not the apology I owe him for telling him I was a means to an end for him, but it's as close as I can get right now.
His eyes darken, and his nostrils flare as the words leave my lips. He stares down at me for a long moment, looking fierce and gentle and so damn handsome I want to burrow into his arms and stay there. But whatever I'm feeling for him is one-sided…isn't it?
Sometimes, when he's looking at me like he is right now, I'm not so sure. But I'm not brave enough to ask him that question when the sting of his last rejection still lingers. Especially not with an audience present.
Instead, I take a step back, putting a little distance between us.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, little bunny."
"Okay."
Octavio nods at Agent Bethel and Mila and then strides out the door, leaving the three of us alone. I stay right where I'm at, trying to calm the way my heart pounds. I feel overheated, like the intense look in Octavio’s eyes heated me from the inside out.
He makes me feel that way so easily.
I'm falling in love with him. I think I have been for days. But that fact doesn't terrify me nearly as much as I know it probably should. In my world, love is pain. It claws and gnashes and hurts like hell.
This doesn’t feel like that. And yet…it has the potential of ending up somewhere just as bad. Perhaps somewhere even worse. Because out of everyone in the world, I think Octavio may have the power to hurt me more than anyone else ever has.
I’m giving him that power. It’s a terrifying prospect.
I look up to find Agent Bethel watching me, his expression unreadable. He notices me looking at him and smiles, though it doesn't quite meet his eyes this time. I think he's worried, but I don't know why.
Before I can think too deeply about it, Mila speaks up, demanding I come and sit beside her.
"Have you ever seen Nailed It?" she asks once I'm seated.
I shake my head.
She claps her hands like she's excited, practically bouncing in her chair. "You're going to love it! They make really fancy desserts, but they suck at baking, so everything always ends up either looking or tasting terrible. The judges are hilarious."
We settle in, and Agent Bethel hits the button on his monitor, starting the show. As Mila promised, it is funny, but I find my mind drifting as we watch. I glance around the office again, trying to imagine myself in an office like this. I gave up thinking about the future a long time ago. It hurt to consider what my life might have been when, every day, I fought just to survive. But I want a normal life. I want to get my GED, go to college, and then have a career of some sort and a family.
Maybe I won't go into law enforcement, I decide as my gaze falls on the stacks of files and paperwork all over the office. It's a little overwhelming to see how much work Agent Bethel has in front of him. Octavio and Roman are just as busy as he is, and with a lot of the same cases.
I look up at the board hanging over the table of folders, trying to make sense of it. One section has a map with little pins stuck in it. Beside each pin is a handwritten note with names on it. As I'm working my way around it visually, trying to figure out what it is, my eyes land on a cluster of pins with a list of familiar names. Horror wells up from the pit of my stomach as realization dawns.
"Are all of these shootings?" I blurt, unable to stop myself.
"They are," Agent Bethel says when I point at the map.
There has to be at least two hundred pins stuck in the map.
"They're all gang and cartel shootings," Mila says, her voice sad. "Finn runs the gang unit, so he keeps up with all of the gang-related crimes. There have been a lot of them since el Demonio went on their power trip."