Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“You don’t even know if there’s anything to inherit. He left Kasey with nothing. What if he left Kasey with enemies and debt to those enemies? I was paying him damn well, baby. It makes no sense that he was desperate enough to hold a gun to the head of a princess, or anyone for that matter. He would have killed her and me that day had I not killed him.”
“I know you killed him. Do you have to talk about it that openly?”
“Baby, the only way we get answers is to talk frankly and figure this out.”
“That doesn’t require you openly talking about killing Kasey.”
“You think hiding from it makes us survive this?”
“No. No, I don’t think we survive this.”
“Really, Ana? All that has happened between us, and that’s your position on us?”
“Yes. No. No.” I swallow against this tight, choking sensation in my throat. “I don’t want us to crash and burn. I don’t. I know you know that.” My teeth worry my bottom lip and despite the badass FBI agent that I’m supposed to be, my eyes burn with unshed tears. “I don’t. Just—say what you’re thinking please.”
“You didn’t inherit from Kurt and neither did Kasey. This threat we’re dealing with hits close to home. You know you always follow the money.”
“You think they were dirty?”
“Do you?”
“Kasey found trouble, but Kurt made tons of money.”
“Kurt’s final affairs don’t add up, Ana.” He doesn’t give me time to get defensive. “Which brings me to Trevor. At the very least, I wonder if Trevor didn’t have something to do with Kurt’s death. And Ana, Trevor was working with Kasey.”
My reaction is an instant shove and push, everything inside me exploding in rejection. “You think Kasey had something to do with Kurt’s death? Are you serious right now, Luke? Really? He was on a mission. Kasey wasn’t a part of that. My brother loved Kurt. He loved him.”
“Kasey wasn’t the man you wanted him to be.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I snap back.
“You didn’t see him hold that gun to an innocent woman’s head with every intention of killing her, Ana. He was not the man you wanted him to be.”
“You just said that. Once was enough.”
“There’s another option. One I need you to think about and think about hard.”
“What would that be?”
“Kurt was in the business of training people capable of being killers—”
“Like you?” I challenge, and the words are out before I can pull them back.
His expression turns stony, his voice icy. “And you, Ana, but that’s not really the point. He could have gotten in bed with the wrong people and couldn’t get out.”
“With what purpose?”
“It could have been that he was being blackmailed, or that he gambled on something that went south and he needed the money. I’ll only do it once is how it all starts.”
“We both know you know that for a fact.” I’m speaking of all the kills he performed for the US government, but I’m being petty, I think immediately after. He hates what he let himself become. I know he does. “Luke, I’m sorry,” I add quickly. “Forget I just said that. I’m just—”
“Speaking what’s in your mind, baby. At least you finally said it. There was a reason you didn’t date the men your stepfather trained.”
I move toward him and he holds up a hand. “No. Let’s say what needs to be said. Kurt was as human as I am. He made mistakes. We need to know if any of them led us here, right now.”
“He was dead before Kasey got into trouble.”
“Unless he wasn’t. Kasey might have inherited the trouble and even a debt that forced him on the path he was on. He hated me. You’re an FBI agent. Who was he going to go to? You need to know that I asked Blake to do a deep dive into Kurt’s life and death. If there’s anything there to find, he’ll find it. And I’m asking you to put on your FBI hat and think hard about observations you may have made. Because even if we kill everyone who shows up at your property five days from now, we only kill the body of the best, not the brains.” He turns and walks toward the door, and my heart crashes and burns right inside my chest.
“Where are you going?”
He pauses with his hand on the knob, but he doesn’t turn. “You need time to think, Ana. About a lot of things.”
With that, he opens the door and leaves. When he shuts it solidly behind him, I feel as if we lost every step forward we’ve taken. I also realize that when we were in the shower earlier, I was reeling over him telling me we aren’t married, feeling slapped and shamed. When he told me he loved me, I didn’t say it back. And I do, more than life itself. I’m just not sure if he even cares, not after the horrible things I said to him.