Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I took his hand and knew immediately it was a mistake.
7
TJ
Heat jolted up my arm the second I touched Rhys. His eyes widened, and I knew he felt it too. I tugged on his hand, and he rose to his feet. When I didn’t let go, he made no move to pull away.
He held my gaze, and I saw so much in his eyes: confusion, pain, need. Could I give him what he needed to make him feel better?
Would he let me try? I didn’t think so, and I knew now wasn’t the time to ask. We had to tell Rogue what had happened up there in the hills, and Rhys was obviously still shaken. He had a secret, but no matter how much I wanted to demand he share it with me, I wasn’t going to. I wasn’t about to spill all my secrets either. I didn’t need to know why he’d reacted like he had. It was just good old-fashioned curiosity.
He’d killed people before. That wasn’t the issue and in no way was it because he was squeamish. It was something about the dead man himself or the manner of the kill. I doubted he would ever tell me, but I hoped he could talk to his brothers about it because, no matter how much of an asshole Rhys could be, he didn’t deserve the kind of pain I’d seen on his face when he jumped down from the truck bed.
I told myself to release his hand. Now wasn’t the time to push whatever was brewing between us. It wasn’t the time to stake my claim on him, but I couldn’t let go. I wanted him to know I would hold on for as long as he would let me. He intrigued me like no one had before, and, of course, I was never one to back down first.
A moment later, Rhys shivered and jerked his hand away, stumbling back. The color he’d regained drained from his face. I thought he might be sick again, but he steadied himself.
“If you want to talk about it…”
“With you?”
I blew out a breath and turned toward the house. “Of course not. I’m way too far beneath you for that.”
“Fuck. I… I can’t talk about it with anyone. I shouldn’t have…”
“It’s fine.”
“My fa-father…” He almost choked on the word.
“What did he do?”
“He worked for the Carlotti Family, and he did every terrible thing you can imagine.”
I wasn’t sure how that related to what had just happened, but I nodded. “That sucks.”
“More than I can say.”
Maybe he was just trying to tell me why he wanted to hate me so badly.
When we reached the barn, he turned to go in, but I grabbed his arm. Once again, I felt a jolt of electricity run through me. Touching him was as dangerous as playing with lightning. “Are you okay? Really?”
He snorted. “No, but I can handle myself. He studied me for a moment. What’s it stand for?”
“What does what stand for?”
“TJ.”
I gave a slight bow. “Teodoro Joseph Marino at your service.”
“Nice. Can I call you Theo?”
“Not if you want to live.”
He waved me off. “Go on back to the house.”
“I expect to be part of this investigation.” If Rhys or his brothers thought I was going to sit around while they handled these fuckers who were after them, they were crazy.
“You’re here to be protected, not to get involved with whatever the hell this is. It’s our problem.”
“It could easily have to do with me. We don’t know who sent these men.”
“We don’t need your help.”
Now he was pissing me off. So much for feeling bad for him. “You didn’t mind having it out there just now.”
“The rest of us could have handled it.”
“I’m not backing down on this.”
“Neither am I.”
He stomped toward the barn, and I acted like I was going to the house in case he turned around for a glimpse of my fine ass. After a few moments, I doubled back and headed to the shed where the ATVs were stored.
I hot-wired one, then headed out to where we’d exchanged fire with the dead guy and his friend. I knew Madison would thoroughly examine the body, but we also needed to see what clues we could find.
I was well aware the man who’d disappeared could come back and bring reinforcements, but I was ready. After tangling with Rhys again, I was so fucking frustrated I would relish a fight with blondie and any of his friends, then I’d torture them for all the answers I wanted.
I scoured the area, but these men were good. They hadn’t left anything behind except a bloodstain from the asshole I’d killed.
We needed to get rid of that, but I was confident that was already part of Grant’s plan. I’d seen his truck parked by the house, so I had no doubt Rhys had caught him up by now, and Grant would probably be looking for me soon. I had no doubt Grant was ready to tell me off for acting in the only way I could to protect his brother and his employees.