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)
“He says he wants you home, but yesterday he told you to stay away because you’d be in too much danger there.”
“I’m not afraid of danger.” I was afraid of my heart breaking if I never saw Rhys again, but I was never meant to be someone who had a steady relationship.
“Don’t go.” His voice was softer now. I heard the pain in it, and I wanted to give in.
“I have to. No one says no to my dad.”
Rhys blew out a long breath. “Then stall or say someone is watching you. Say whatever you have to.”
I shook my head. “I can’t risk things getting worse because I didn’t act. My father summoned me, and I have to go.”
“No, you don’t. I… I don’t want you to go.”
“Why, Rhys? Why is that?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt, and I have a bad feeling about this too. Something isn’t right.”
“Why do you care? Wouldn’t it be easier without me around here?”
He blew out a long breath. “I’d never find anyone else like you.”
“You mean someone who can truly satisfy you?”
“No. Yes. Fuck.”
He looked as mixed up as I felt. “Tell me. I want to hear you say it.”
“I can’t stand the thought of losing you, okay?”
“Why?”
“Dammit, TJ, don’t make me do this.”
“Tell me.”
“I… I care about you. I need you here.”
“I’ll accept that for now, but eventually, you will say the real words to me.”
“I… yeah, probably.”
That admission was almost as good as the declaration I wanted. I loved him, and I was sure he loved me too, but neither of us had any idea how to handle that.
“If this is a trap, it’s stupid to just walk right into it.” Rhys’s anger had returned. I wasn’t sure if he was angrier at me, my father, or Franco.
“I never said I was one to make smart choices.”
“Talk to X first.”
I shook my head. “There’s no time. My father said I need to be there immediately.”
“It’s not like you can get to Chicago from here immediately. A half hour delay is not going to make a life-or-death difference.”
“It could.” He knew that as well as I did, so he changed tactics.
“If you talk to X, he might be able to get you on a private plane, then you could be there much faster.”
“That’s true, but I—”
“You want to do this yourself. You don’t want help. You’re stubborn as fuck. TJ, you’ve got to stop trying to be a hero on your own. Franco is counting on you doing that.”
How the hell did he understand the situation so clearly when he’d known me for such a short time?
“And my father is counting on me to stop him. This is just how my family works.”
“The way I see it, your father gives the orders, and you follow them. He expects you to do so automatically and to tell no one. How well has that worked out? Has the status quo prevented the situation with Franco? Fuck no. He’s already on the inside, and you don’t know who’s compromised. You asked for help, so let us all help you.”
“No one else knows Franco like I do. I should have taken care of this myself from the start. I can track him down. I can end this.”
“You’re being an idiot.”
“Maybe.” I zipped the duffel and slid the strap onto my shoulder.
“How do you plan to get to the airport? Were you planning to steal my truck?”
“I was going to ask Rogue to take me.”
He frowned at me. “Rogue? Why?”
“I thought he was the most likely to accept my reasoning.”
“I hate that you knew that.”
I shrugged. “Would you be able to sit back and let other people take care of this if it were your brother?”
He looked away, and I knew I had him.
He pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to me. “Take my truck, and text me where it’s parked. Don’t you dare get yourself killed. I expect you back here with me within forty-eight hours.”
I fisted my hand in Rhys’s shirt and yanked him to me.
When we kissed, it was more like a fight, until the moment he melted, and I felt all the tangled-up feelings raging in him like they were in me. Pulling away from him was the hardest thing I’d ever done. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
28
RHYS
“I can’t believe you just let him go,” Grant yelled. “He’s my responsibility.”
“Our responsibility,” Rogue said.
“He was going to find a way to leave no matter what I did.”
“You care about him. I know you do. How could you—”
“Because I can’t trap him. No matter how much I might wish things were different, nothing could work between us. He was ultimately going back there anyway.” He would disappear just like Rogue had no matter how many times I told him he didn’t have to try to kill himself bull riding for us to survive.