Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I felt guilty as hell, sitting in there warm and dry while some stranger worked on my car.
Some hot stranger…
I pulled on my jacket, put the hood up, and went over to his side.
He was kneeling down, his muscular back visible in the soaked fabric of his shirt. He loosened the tire, pulled it off, and carried it back to the trunk. When he walked back toward me, that was the first real view I got of him. Six-foot-something, the lines of his hard chest and abs visible because his shirt stuck to him like a papier-mâché. “Get your ass back in the car.”
“Get my ass back in the car?” Did he just say that to me? “You need help—”
“No.” He returned to the side of the car and slid the spare tire onto the axle. Then he grabbed the tire iron and manually tightened each lug nut around the wheel, securing it in place. He released the jack, and the car returned to its flat position.
He really did do it in five minutes. Probably less. “Are you a mechanic?”
A smirk moved over his face as he carried the jack to the trunk then shut the lid. “You’re good to go.”
“Can I give you some money—”
“No.” He came back toward me. “Just get off the street.”
That was the second time he’d said something like that. “Why?”
“Don’t drive in these conditions. And if you do it anyway—pay attention.”
He was a gentleman for pulling over to help me in a downpour, but he was also a dick at the same time. I would normally snap back at an insult like that, but because he was literally soaked to the bone from changing my tire, I kept my mouth shut. “Thank you. I wish there was something I could do for you—”
“You can get in the car and drive away.” He turned his back on me and walked back to his black Range Rover. He opened the driver’s door and hopped inside, and the taillights lit up once again, but he didn’t drive away, waiting for me to get back in the car.
I got behind the wheel and dropped the hood of my jacket before I started the engine. My dashboard alert had cleared because he’d successfully fixed the wheel.
His Range Rover stayed put, waiting for me to leave first.
I pulled out onto the road and waved at him as I passed, but his window was completely tinted black. The light was green, so I drove through the intersection and then headed home.
2
THEO
I entered the double doors and stepped into the lobby, my boots squeaking because they were full of water. Both of the guards stared at my appearance but didn’t say a word. I stepped into the grand room, an old room with old paintings of people dead and gone on the walls.
Derek spoke on the phone, his pistol visible as it stuck out from the back of his jeans. The room was filled with more of my men, all armed to the teeth. “Alright, alright. Got it.” He hung up then turned to look at me. “Where the fuck have you been?” Then his eyes narrowed as he studied me up and down before he gave me a quizzical look.
“Something came up.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but the expression on my face dissuaded him from making the greatest mistake of his life. “Anyone got a change of clothes?” He looked around at the other guys.
“It’s fine.”
“We can’t meet Bolton with you looking like that—”
“I said it’s fine.”
Derek’s eyes shifted back and forth between mine, but he didn’t press his argument. He grabbed his phone again and made another call.
Whether I was soaking wet or buck naked made no difference. I could make a grown man shit his pants, regardless.
Derek finished his call then came back to me. “They’re close.”
“Alright. Let’s do this, gentlemen.”
I sat behind the wooden table in the center of the enormous room, the cold fireplace behind me, the hearth so large it was bigger than the average person’s living room. It was a historic building that was sometimes used for tours—and a good friend had let me borrow it for the night.
Guards were posted in every corner and on the surrounding rooftops, some with sniper rifles and some with assault rifles. I was certain Bolton had his men expertly placed as well, finding holes in my defenses because that was his specialty.
We came together under the veil of a temporary truce, but we both knew that veil was so thin, the tip of a paper clip could pierce it.
Derek approached me. “They’ve entered the building.” Then he stepped away, leaving his pistol in the back of his jeans.
A few minutes later, Bolton entered through the open double doors, flanked by the armed men he brought with him. His eyes focused on me, his mouth stretched in a subtle smile. He did a quick scan as he came closer and looked at the chair across from me.