Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“No,” he growls. “You don’t.”
I push my legs even harder together, staring into the darkness.
“What are the chances this person comes looking for us out here?” I ask.
“It’s unlikely,” Jacob says. “They rarely make plays in the US, not this far north, and where there’s no money or territory at play.”
“They?”
“The Cartel,” he says as if it’s not a big deal.
“It’s the Cartel?” I gasp.
“Not really,” he says. “Rafael is a trafficker—a proud, vain, egotistical bastard. He’s affiliated with the Cartel, but only because he supplies them with…” He trails off, and my imagination bleeds as it fills in the rest. “Anyway, they don’t like him. They won’t go to war for him, but he may be able to recruit a few men. I’ll need to put feelers out while we lie low here.”
“These people sound like monsters,” I whisper.
“They are,” Jacob says, slowing the car down and turning a corner. “They’re the lowest of the low, the most violent men. The way I’ve been going at them this past six months, it’s a wonder I’m here.”
“Here? As in…”
“Yeah,” he growls.
“Why have you been going so hard?” I ask.
He doesn’t reply. He doesn’t have to. Six months. Exactly how long it’s been since the graduation party, since I stuffed myself into that dress and prayed that he would notice me, prayed that he would want me. He did. He seemed obsessed, but there’s a murky atmosphere between us now.
He pulls up a gravel road, the headlights cutting across a cabin set within a clearing with a garage extension.
“We’ll be safe here,” he says. “There are a couple of towns nearby. Little Hope and Pilgrim’s Peak if we need extra supplies, but we should try to minimize contact with the locals.”
“Just in case the Cartel comes sniffing,” I say in a disbelieving tone, but honestly, it’s not that difficult to accept. I always knew there was something dark and mysterious about Jacob. Now, I’ve been proven right.
I think about what he said. He’d keep us safe, keep me safe. He had a savage, manly huskiness in his tone when he said it. I didn’t have to doubt it, never have to question it. I know he’s telling the truth. He’d never let anything happen to me… because he loves me.
I clench my fist and dig my fingernails into my palm, forcing that thought away. What an idiotic thing to even let into my head.
“Dad,” I murmur, gently shaking him awake. “We’re here.”
With Dad awake, I can focus on the guilt instead, the shame I’ve felt every single second being in his presence since it happened. He yawns, rubs his eyes, and sits up. “Ah, nice place.”
From his casual, jokey tone, I’m guessing he hasn’t heard anything Jacob and I have said to each other, but did we talk about anything bad? Anything steamy? We haven’t even acknowledged what we did. I bet he never will. He wants to bury it. That’s exactly what I should want to do, too.
CHAPTER FIVE
JACOB
After grabbing a few hours of sleep, I wake at midday and quickly scan the perimeter. The snow has settled in thick sheets around the cabin, but the air is currently still, allowing me to use any disturbances in the snow as signs. There’s nothing except a set of paw prints on the east side of the cabin, moving past the garage and disappearing back into the forest. It must’ve been a fox.
When I return to the cabin, Mike is in the kitchen, standing at the coffee machine. “Want some?” he asks.
I nod. “Yeah, thanks. Uh, Mike, last night during the drive, I told Emma what was really going on. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” he says, confused. “I wanted to tell her to begin with. Why the one-eighty?”
There’s no way for me to answer this honestly. The truth is, lying to her causes me pain, borderline physical pain. I had to tell her. My woman deserves honesty.
“I just figured it didn’t make much sense, holding back, especially if we need to stay here longer.”
Mike just nods, standing there with his sleeved arms and an easy smile. No matter what, he’s always able to keep an even keel. “You could be in the world’s worst shootout and still come out with that grin on your face.”
Mike shrugs. “If these men come for us, I’ll do what I have to do.”
“Do you ever miss it?” I ask.
Before Mike left the military to become an accountant, and before I left for Special Ops and then my own company, we served together as young men. It’s the thing that bonded us the most. It’s the thing that made me aware this man would always be my friend. I’d never betray him. I’d die before I did that. I should get busy dying, then.
“No,” he says. “There’s a reason I left. I wasn’t made for killing or bastards trying to kill me.” He walks over to the bar and slides my mug across to me.