Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
“Could you two be quiet?” Landon asked.
“Why? No one’s here. I can’t imagine your guys finding this place. It goes against every single thing you are. Landon used to be a little rich boy and so he has expensive taste in all areas. Isn’t that what you told me?” Jade asked.
Tulip had seen the Denton house. She knew the kind of lifestyle this guy had and living in a possible rat- and animal-infested house didn’t seem like him. She didn’t really know him and she’d never lived with a bounty on her head, so it wasn’t like her to judge.
For the next hour, they checked out every single part of the house. They discovered the boiler still worked, as did the heating, and most of the damage to the house was cosmetic. The kitchen worked with a stove and a fridge. It just needed a good cleaning.
If anything, the house was in need of some simple tender loving care.
She and Jade got on to cleaning the kitchen while Landon ran out to grab them all some food.
“You know he cares about you,” Jade said.
“He doesn’t even know me and besides, it’s not like you’ve seen us together.”
“Good point. I’m just saying, you know, I’ve never seen him act like this with anyone. He talked about Sarah in the beginning, but over time, it faded. I think it bothered him more, you know, not caring. His feeling for her just diminishing.”
“You care about him, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. He didn’t have to help me but he did.”
They finished up the kitchen and Jade nodded in appreciation. “Now, rats aside, I will eat in here.”
“I haven’t seen any rats.”
“I’m not getting my hopes up, Tulip. Believe me, I would advise you don’t either. Let’s go and check out some bedrooms.”
They made their way upstairs, and following Jade’s lead, she checked each step in turn to make sure she wouldn’t fall into it. The last thing she wanted was to be injured.
“Have you and Landon been on the run for a while?”
“Yes. For some time at least.” She shrugged. “It is what it is. He offered to set me up in a situation like his sister’s. I don’t even know what his sister is doing but I told him no. I guess when he took me from my home, I figured I would stick with the guy who took me from hell into heaven.”
“This is heaven?”
“You don’t know what my hell is like. One day, I’ll tell you.”
They found a couple of bedrooms. The beds weren’t made and the mattresses looked like they had seen better days. She helped Jade lift one and her newfound friend nodded in approval. “No blood. At least we know no one died here. That’s a plus.”
She dropped the mattress down and a wave of dust filled the air.
Their bedrooms were close together.
“Landon won’t mind this place either. So long as we all have a bed, he doesn’t care.”
Tulip didn’t let her know that she’d given herself to Landon. She didn’t even know what it entailed. It could be anything.
Sex, for sure. Even though, she didn’t know if it meant anything else. This was the first ultimatum she’d been given and she wasn’t exactly up to date on all the details.
Landon’s return brought their conversation to an abrupt stop.
They both walked downstairs to find Landon already in the sitting room. He’d thrown a couple of cushions to the ground and took out food.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked.
“So far, I’ll take it. No rats in sight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t around.”
“I have no doubt. We’ll stay here a couple of weeks. I’ll work on figuring out Maddox’s code to break, and once I get this bounty off my head, we’ll be good,” Landon said.
“Code?” Tulip asked, picking up a container of Chinese food. Back home, the Chinese she used to enjoy came in little clear plastic containers. She normally loved a fried rice and plain curry.
“Landon believes if he can figure out the code to Maddox’s bounty, take the money, and wipe it off the system, there’s a chance he could get the hunters off his back. We believe his brothers are doing the same thing but as yet, we haven’t been able to crack the code. In the beginning, hunters were on our case all the time. Then slowly, they started to diminish.”
“It’s my brothers,” he said.
“How do you know it’s them?”
“They’re offering out extra bounty for other missions. It’s the only way to keep them all off my back. Don’t get me wrong, some won’t be lured by the other offers, but it’s a shot.”
“Your family’s that rich?”
“They will do whatever it takes to keep me safe.”
“Even though you killed your father.”
“I did what I had to do. Maddox needed killing. I was the only one with the guts enough to do it.”