Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“And pretending to be someone he’s not,” Kenzie finished, and she studied Carys for a moment. “Have you thought about the fact that he’s basically been undercover for two and a half years? He didn’t think it would be this long, didn’t think he would have to go so deep. Sometimes when an agent is undercover for so long, they take on aspects of the character they’re playing. They kind of have to in order to survive. Tris became incredibly secretive.”
“And reckless,” Kala added. “He wasn’t as reckless in the beginning but lately… Well, I’ve been worried we’re going to bury him. The only one he talks to is Zach.”
She’d seen the handsome Army captain at The Hideout, but she’d never spent much time with him. “They don’t act like the closest of friends when he’s in town.”
Kenzie sat back against the headboard. “I think they do it on purpose. They’re both technically Army intelligence. At least that’s what it says on the books. Cooper is technically military, too, but what he does is logistics and transportation.”
“The point is there’s a lot we don’t know, but we’re worried about Tris,” Kala continued. “You’re now a part of this, and since we’ll be with you, I need to know how hard a bodyguard I’m supposed to be.”
“Well, I would prefer not to die,” Carys replied.
“She means do you really want us to keep Tristan away from you? Right now he’s planning on going in as Aidan’s bodyguard,” Kenzie clarified.
“How can he do that?” Carys was confused on how all this worked. “If this doctor person knows about the wedding, how could he not know about Tris? I know when he entered the Agency they scrubbed him off socials, but there are still records of him.”
The first awful indication life had changed because of Tristan’s job had been waking up to all her socials being taken over. She wasn’t a slave to her socials, but they had been a way to memorialize some of the nice parts of her life. She’d woken up one morning and they’d been changed. All the pictures of Tristan had been gone. All her posts about him, messages to him…simply gone.
It should have let her know how the next years of her life were going to go.
“The Agency is excellent at changing a narrative,” Kenzie insisted. “In this case, we’re McKay-Taggart bodyguards, and we don’t have to pretend. Which makes me sad because I like the undercover aspect. I would have been Carys’s friend from work. Kally the nurse. I had a backstory and everything.”
“Not a nurse.” Kala’s reply let Carys know they’d been arguing about this for a while. “Do you know nurse things? We can dress a wound in the field but there’s more to nursing. I’m glad we’re going in as a bodyguard since we’ll be walking into a nest of highly trained doctors. What would happen if they ask specific questions we can’t answer? You and your back stories.”
She wasn’t about to mention most of these doctors would be arrogant assholes who thought nursing was beneath them and they wouldn’t ask anyone without an MD for anything except maybe another coffee. “It’s for the best. The medical world can be kind of insular. These are guys in highly specialized fields or in what we consider sexy fields like trauma surgery. They won’t pay attention to you. Hell, when they find out I’m in obstetrics, they’ll completely shut me out. I will be considered Dr. O’Donnell’s girlfriend.”
Kenzie frowned. “Well, now I kind of want to take all of them out.”
Carys shrugged. “It is what it is. Maybe we can use it to our advantage.”
“I’m sure we can,” Kala said. “Now how hardcore should I go on Tristan’s ass? Am I guarding the bedroom door?” She turned slightly, looking at the doorway. “What do you say, buddy? Do we need to have a talk? I’m not worried about your friend there, but we do have to work together.”
Carys followed Kala’s gaze, and there they were. Tris and Aidan stood in the doorway. Well so much for respecting her boundaries. “I asked you to stay at your place. I’m perfectly safe here.”
“My place is our apartment,” Aidan insisted, and she wished he didn’t look so damn delicious. He’d changed into PJ pants and decided he didn’t need a shirt. “I’m not leaving you, and I know Kala thinks she can intimidate me, but I’m not about to crawl away in the hopes my cousin won’t take my balls.”
“And she won’t be able to keep me out.” Tris hadn’t changed yet, but he stared at her with dark eyes.
With eyes that reminded her of everything this man could do to her. Had done to her. He could make her feel in a way no one else could. He could also rip her heart out.