Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
I’d had a chef who cooked for me, but it wasn’t normally what I wanted. It was whatever my father ate and left behind. I was never allowed to eat with him. My mother usually took her meals in her room. If she didn’t, she still couldn’t eat with me, only with him. So while I’d also had a gilded cage growing up, a line of terror had run through my background.
I didn’t remember a time when I wasn’t scared my father would snap, find me, send for me.
I didn’t feel that with Kai.
Maybe I should’ve.
I should’ve feared for Blade’s life. The logical part of my brain told me to think about that, but my instincts told me he was safe, just as I was.
I let out a breath and reached for the remote control. I was changing the channel when I heard a soft knock on my door.
I looked over from the couch. “Yeah?”
I expected a guard to walk in with dinner. It was that time, and they always knocked. If I didn’t answer, they told me my food was outside the door. Of course they were there when I opened—if I opened—the door, but they never came in unless I granted them permission.
This time the door opened and Kai walked in.
I sat up straight, my heart slamming against my chest.
It’d been three days since I ran from him. I’d had no word from him since.
He looked good.
I tried not to notice, but I did.
My eyes ran over him, taking in the way his shirt fit his chest, showing the leanness of his stomach and falling in just the right place over his pants. He looked all business, his hair combed back. I had to pry my eyes away from the rest of him.
I didn’t want to see the knowing smugness in those dark eyes, or the smirk that curved his mouth.
“Where’s Blade?” I scowled.
He stopped. I heard a soft sigh before he took a seat on the couch parallel to me. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs, his hands folded together over his knees. He angled his head toward me, a shadow falling over half his face.
“I brought a chef in. The guys said you haven’t eaten dinner yet. Would you have dinner with me?”
I frowned. “You’re not telling me? You’re asking?”
“I’m asking.” He inclined his head. “Tanner and Jonah are coming later tonight as well, if you’d like to have drinks with them.”
I studied him, really studied him.
That wall was there, but there was more. A lightness? But that didn’t make sense, not for someone like Kai Bennett.
Still, I was curious.
I sat up, stiffly, and shrugged. “Sure. What time?”
“Dinner will be in thirty minutes. Will you have enough time to dress?”
I scanned over his clothes. He could’ve been on the cover of a fashion magazine.
I sighed. “I’m guessing you don’t do dinner in sweats?”
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “For the right occasion, always.” He stood, nodding toward the closet in the bedroom. “There are dresses in there, or you can dress however you like. I know Tanner and Jonah will be coming from a night at the club. It’s your choice.”
And with that said, he strolled out.
I hated to admit it, but it was good to see him. It was good to see anyone, talk to anyone. The guards didn’t count. Though I’d considered trying to have a conversation with them.
Okay.
I had tried. They ignored me.
Hearing Tanner and Jonah were coming gave me a little kick of excitement too.
I missed Blade. I missed Carol.
I missed my routine of going to work, working out, and being a Hider operative.
I missed my normalcy, which wasn’t that normal, but it was to me.
As I dressed, I knew I needed to question Kai about Blade. I wanted to make sure he was safe, was okay, and if I could, talk Kai into letting him go.
I was nervous and grew even more so when I’d picked the outfit I was going to wear.
I didn’t want to go too dressy, but I heard what he was telling me without saying the words. Tanner and Jonah would be dressed up. Everything they wore screamed money. So maybe it was them in the back of my mind, maybe it was Kai, or maybe it was the hope that maybe I could talk Kai into letting Blade go, or maybe there was a part of me that didn’t want to feel like the outcast. Whatever the reason, I chose an elegant black pantsuit. The middle plunged down all the way to my stomach, but sheer lace covered the midsection.
I stepped back, looking in the mirror, and again, I didn’t recognize myself.
I was a far cry from the Hider operative who dressed in scrubs, workout clothes, or whatever set of clothes my “cover” had me wearing.