Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
“This is not entertainment, Adam,” O’Donnell warned.
“Bloody oath, it ain’t. That girl needs someone stable,” Brody said. “She needs someone who can take care of her since she’s determined to sacrifice herself to the rest of the world. Where is he? I think I should talk to the bastard.”
“Use small words,” Adam advised. “He’s not very well educated. You know the type. Born big on muscles, little on brains.”
What the fuck was going on? “I want to see Steph and this Nate person. Now.”
O’Donnell held up a hand. “Calm down, Brody. I think everything is all right. Chelsea hasn’t found anything on the Dark Web. I think Steph might have jumped the gun running the way she did. I think she was in a situation where she got scared and she took this arsehole too seriously. As far as we can tell he tried to get her to correct his mistake. He was probably afraid if the man died, he would get in trouble, and he likely will. I’ve got a call in to local law enforcement. They’re going to look into it, but I think it’s safe to say she’s going to be okay. But you do need to talk to her.”
“I thought you were going to murder me.”
“That was before I realized you’re just a dumbass who can’t accept the inevitable. Think about it, man. How long did it take you to get on a plane? It’s only been ten or eleven hours since we talked. The flight itself is eight. That’s not the actions of a man who doesn’t care about a woman. Did you take the time to pack?”
Barely, but Li was wrong about one thing. “I don’t care what you think you know, the man who wants her dead is real. I talked to the bastard. He told me he was going to kill her and her boyfriend. He was serious, Li. He’s coming after her.”
Liam stood up. “I think she’s with Charlotte. Let’s go find her. She needs to be the one to explain to you about Nathan. And then I want you to tell me absolutely everything you know.”
Brody followed, ready to face her.
Chapter Three
Steph stopped at the door to what seemed to be a full-on gym, glancing around the room and praying she wasn’t drooling.
The room was filled with gorgeous, muscular men working out, several of them without their shirts on.
She’d wondered why the outer office had been completely deserted. There had been plenty of desks, but Charlotte had mentioned that most of the men who worked for this particular division of McKay-Taggart didn’t like to be tied down to desks. In deference to their unique natures, Ian had let them put two of the large conference spaces together for a gym.
“It keeps them close to the office,” Charlotte explained. “There’s also a room with a massive TV and a shocking assortment of video game systems. We’ve found if we don’t keep them engaged, they wander off.”
Beautiful, sexy men with distraction issues. “And you want one of them to watch over me? Should I worry about shiny objects?”
Charlotte laughed. “Not at all. They’re focused when they work. You have to understand some of these guys take on a single client for long stretches of time. They eat, work, sleep when the client does. It’s very involved. It’s why they don’t want to be tied to a desk when they aren’t on assignment. And this is what they do every afternoon.”
“I thought I would find you down here, baby,” a deep voice said.
She turned and Ian Taggart walked through the door. He was so close on their heels she wondered if he’d found out where they were going and run to catch up with them.
If it bothered Charlotte Taggart, Steph couldn’t tell. The woman merely grinned up at her massive husband. “You know I try not to miss the afternoon show.”
Taggart made a vomiting sound, but then sighed. “You should be glad I got my fix.” Taggart winked down at her and held up what looked like a yellow piece of cake, or perhaps a kind of lemony brownie. “Stephanie, this is what I like to call the full douche.”
“Excuse me?” He couldn’t have said what she’d thought he said.
“Yeah, you know how a group of dogs is called a pack and a bunch of crows is called a murder. A big group of bodyguards is called a douche,” Taggart proclaimed. “Idiots, every single one of them. I have no idea why I hired them.”
“You hired them because they’re the best,” Charlotte explained with a long sigh. “And now we have to pick a couple for Steph.”
“You know I could have called them into a meeting,” Taggart explained. “They are sometimes allowed to come upstairs to the big kids table, but only if they wear clothes like normal people. Blade! What the fuck is wrong with your pants? They’re supposed to be around your waist not barely hugging your ass cheeks, you douche.”