Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Did you not hear me about how talented I am? I got you to sleep with me again. Wait another seven years and we’ll be getting married.”
“Uh-huh. The man who just admitted he will never have a relationship will marry me. Sure.”
Trav leans closer to me but doesn’t take his eyes off the road. “We weren’t talking about future me just now. We were talking pre-Dylan me.” He goes back to his side of the car, and I’m left blinking at him.
Marriage is … a lot.
He’s not actually saying he wants marriage. He can’t be. He jokes about it, sure, but there’s a big difference between joking about getting married one day and actually walking down an aisle.
Then again, he also said they weren’t really jokes. That he has never lied to me.
I’ve just learned how to deal with Trav—by giving him orgasms. I wouldn’t know how to navigate a relationship with him, let alone a marriage.
He must not be thinking about it too seriously because in the next moment, he snaps his fingers. “New idea. I know exactly where to go.”
“Should I be scared? I think I should be scared. Can it really get any worse than camping?”
“Just wait.”
Trav heads back toward the San Gabriel Mountains but doesn’t go to his headquarters. At Monrovia, he pulls into a street at the foot of a hill and drives about halfway up to a closed iron gate. He hits a button, and a chipper voice answers on a speaker.
“What’s up, boss?”
“Let me in, or you’re fired.”
“We both know you’d never fire me.” Yet, the gate opens anyway.
The long drive leads to another gate, but this one is already open. There’s a large yard and warm lights illuminating a garden patch and a stone-and-clapboard house. While it’s a step down from where we have been staying, it has a charming feel to it.
Two of Trav’s men come out of the house and walk down the steps to greet us. I recognize one as Iris, and the other is the new guy—the one who’s with Iris. I think Trav said his name was Saint.
The German shepherd that was at headquarters a couple of days ago trails them excitedly, trying to push her way between her dads. She’s so cute, dancing behind them to let her through.
We pull to a stop, and Trav gets out of the car, so I follow him.
The dog finally gets around Iris and Saint and runs right up to Trav, jumping and putting her paws on his chest and licking his face.
Girl, join the club of wanting to do that.
“Good girl,” Trav coos.
“Please don’t encourage bad behavior,” Iris says.
“Says the guy whose name means—”
“We all know what my name means.”
Trav laughs. “Princess Smooshy Face, down.”
The dog drops immediately and sits at his feet.
Saint nudges Iris. “Hey, look, she’s more obedient than you.”
“And I officially hate you both,” Iris says. “So why are you bringing the DEA agent to my house?”
“I don’t think I’m a—”
Trav puts his hand on my shoulder to stop me from talking. “You know how I caught you two hooking up behind my back and I didn’t fire either one of you or punish you for it? This is your punishment. Hey, roomies.” He’s smiling at the two guys how he usually smiles at me when he’s purposefully trying to piss me off.
Iris crosses his arms. “And why do we have the pleasure and not Domino, you know, your second-in-command?”
“Eh, I wouldn’t burden him like that. I actually like him.”
Iris flips Trav off.
“Also, we were there last night. His place is compromised now.”
“Fine,” Iris says. “Come on in.”
Inside, the house looks really … normal. After spending the last few days with Trav and his extravagant lifestyle, as nice as it was, this feels like an actual home. Lived-in. It’s closer to my place than anywhere Trav’s taken me.
“Okay, so why did you really come here?” Iris asks and gestures for us to sit in the living room.
“Did Domino contact either of you?” Trav sits on a two-seater couch, and he almost takes up three-quarters of it.
Saint and Iris sit in the armchairs on either side of the couch, so I squeeze in next to Trav.
“Yeah, we were there when he found the bug,” Saint says. “He dragged us outside and told me what he’d found, and we tried to think of everything we’d said since the perimeter alarm tripped. He told us to go back inside and pretend to be leaving for the day, and then everyone got out of there.”
Trav nods. “The thing that I don’t understand is Walker would have heard where we were staying. Even if it was only to say we’d be at Domino’s house. The code name would only get him so far, and he has resources. He didn’t come. Why?”
Iris opens his mouth, but his boyfriend covers it with his hand.