Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
I barely stopped in time when she hurried out of the room, almost crashing right into my chest. I still put my hands out, catching her by her upper arms and making her wide eyes dart up to mine.
“I’m sorry, Erick. I wasn’t paying attention,” Brianna said with a sheepish smile.
It should’ve been as easy as me telling her it was fine and letting her go, but it wasn’t. My gaze became locked on her instead. Her hair was pulled up in a bun today with a few loose strands framing her face, bringing even more attention to her naturally flushed cheeks and full lips.
Damn, she was gorgeous, and it was hard to rip my eyes away and release her arms.
Maybe I was lonely. It wasn’t like me and the others outside of David had the time or energy to date around and find the love of our lives. We swore ourselves to this line of work, which we didn’t regret, but it definitely forced us to put other aspects of our lives on hold.
I didn’t need to be staring at my captain’s hot wife, though. It wasn’t right. But I also wasn’t the only one checking her out on a daily basis. I didn’t miss the intrigued looks that the others pitched at her or the comments they would make about how good she looked or how smart she was.
Did David even realize that the soldiers on his unit were lusting after his wife?
All of this sudden attraction to our captain’s wife of all people was jarring and nerve wracking, but… part of it was also thrilling in a twisted manner. She was so out of reach, but she was so close too. But I also couldn’t forget the guilt that churned in my stomach when I thought of actually getting close to her.
“It’s no problem,” I assured her before stepping out of the way.
Brianna smiled, her fingers brushing my arm as she passed me.
“Hey, Emmett,” she said, doing the same to my brother before hurrying into her room.
Emmett and I glanced at each other for a moment, but the silence was loud. This woman had single-handedly sent a tremor through our unit, and I wondered how long any of us could all behave for until David straightened us out.
I led Emmett into the room where everyone else was gathered, and when Brianna returned with her notebook, she slipped between David and Elijah to look at the laptop screen again.
“They’ve confirmed that Dimitrik has moved to a stately home on the other side of the city from us. It’s across the street from that large park we saw on the aerial map we were looking at yesterday,” Brianna replied as she straightened up, her black, V-neck t-shirt hugging her bust and curves. She glanced over in my direction, her eyes briefly catching mine. When she realized that I was staring at her, the corner of her mouth turned up before she quickly looked away.
I had to be way more subtle than this. Damn.
David turned to me, making me straighten up so fast that my back ached for a second.
“We need to come up with a plan. We know where the dictator is, and he’s the catalyst for this war,” he told me.
I nodded as all eyes shifted to me, prompting me to lift my chin and cross my arms. Mission coordination was my rodeo. Probably because I could be a stickler about details, but good plans relied on specific details.
“We need to go after him and capture him,” I replied. Of course, killing him was an option, but I feared that one of his crazy supporters might try to avenge him and take his place. The war still wouldn’t be over. “Then, we need to force him to give up his control over the country and leave with his supporters.”
“Jovan, Andric, and Wojtek said they plan to jointly run the country until the people choose a leader,” Brianna told us. “Vlasica will be in good hands once Dimitrik leaves.”
“This place will be safe again,” David replied as he looked over at her, smiling a little. I couldn’t count how many times I had seen him flash her a proud look as she worked so diligently alongside us.
If I didn’t know how much this job took up our time, I would’ve been surprised that they didn’t have kids yet. Brianna was warm and maternal, and David was patient and encouraging. They would’ve made great parents, but David was away too much.
Not that I didn’t think Brianna could handle raising a child or multiple children alone, but it still would be tough on her. Me and my brothers were raised by a single mom, and she was a damn rockstar. She encouraged us to watch out for each other and take school seriously, and my brothers and I pitched in as much as we could to help around the house and with looking out for each other.