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)
“I’m happy for you.” Had someone moved the chair? He was almost certain it had been sitting in front of the closet since the bed pulled out across the space where it would sit at the desk.
Daisy must have moved it. But then wouldn’t the sound have woken him?
He’d been dreaming about someone stalking him. That’s what it must be. His brain had been stuck on someone following him and him leading the bad guys right back to Aidan and Carys, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
It was the only explanation he had for the instinct tugging at the back of his head. The one that told him something was wrong.
Daisy nodded. “Me, too. And I want the same for my brother. So you’re going to fix this, Tris. You’re going to do whatever it takes to make this up to my brother and Carys and get back to normal.”
He wasn’t sure what normal was anymore, but finding it again was definitely a goal of his. “Yes, it’s why I’m here.”
Daisy’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “I thought you were here so you could sneak into their marital bed.”
Well, that sounded bad. “I came to make sure they were safe.”
“So you weren’t going to show up on their wedding night?”
“No.” It was mostly the truth. He’d kind of thought maybe he could talk to them after they were married and had proven to the world they were done with Tristan Dean-Miles and he was done with them. He’d only taken out the room at the Ritz because it was conveniently located near the airport. If they happened to want to sneak him in… Fuck. “Yeah. Okay, yes, I tricked myself into thinking I was only doing it to protect them, but I probably would have tried to talk to them. I tried to talk to Aidan before the ceremony.”
“And he told you to fuck off.”
Not exactly, but close. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It does because you should learn from your mistakes,” Daisy informed him primly. “It feels like you’re making another one. Da gave us a debrief on what’s happening, and you are screwing all this up again.”
It was good to know Uncle Li was serious about sharing classified intel. It was precisely why he didn’t think any of the parents should be involved.
His parents. They’d sent text after text and called him at least twenty times. He was going to have to deal with them. Brianna would have told them he was here. It would shock him if one or all of them didn’t show up at some point to try to talk to him.
The idea of talking to his parents made his gut churn. What the fuck would he tell them? His dads were heroes. His mom was beloved in her profession. How did he tell them he’d made a mess?
How fast could he get to The Hideout? They might not look for him there.
“Tris, are you even listening to me?”
Tris shoved the covers off. He wore a T-shirt and pajama pants, thank the universe since apparently he didn’t get any privacy. “I am, Daisy. I promise I’m thinking about Aidan and Carys. I’m going to do right by them.”
“I don’t think our versions of right by are going to line up,” Daisy mused and then sighed. “Oh, well. I was going to blackmail you into doing the right thing, but I suppose I’ll simply do the right thing by my friend.” She eased off the mattress, straightening her shirt. “It’s been a real predicament for me. Do I use what I know to help my brother or fess up to help my friend? Thanks for helping me figure it out.”
Tristan put his weapon into its lockbox in case Daisy decided to go commando on him. “That sounds like a threat.”
Her dark hair shook. “No, not a threat at all. The opposite. I was going to blackmail you, but I can see it probably won’t work. Nate said you were too thick. I don’t think he was saying anything about your body though. He wouldn’t body shame anyone. He speaks Australian. I think thick means you’re not very smart.”
Sure, because that was better. “Awesome. Tell Nate hi for me.”
She smiled brightly. “Okay. I will. Good luck.”
She was obnoxious. “Daisy, what were you going to blackmail me with? You could at least tell me.”
She’d stopped at the door. “Oh, I was going to offer you a choice. Fix things with my brother in the next couple of weeks or I’ll tell your mother that you went to all the Doms at The Hideout and threatened to kill them if they played with your sister. I wouldn’t tell Bri because it could hurt her feelings. I know they hurt mine when I found out you and Aidan had done it to me. I was starting to think maybe I wasn’t pretty or something. But I will totally tell your mom.”