Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
He shrugged. “We both have doors that face an alley out back.”
“That might be complicated. I don’t know how much Rosie told you. . .”
“She told me nothing, so I asked nothing, just in case the phones were being monitored.”
My brows rose. “This isn’t your first covert mission, then.”
“Nope.”
“Well, there should be security out back. It wouldn’t be good if they see me.”
“Ah.” He nodded. We stopped walking a few steps away from the businesses. “I could distract him.”
“With your little getup?”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that my brother is a scary motherfucker, and he taught me well.”
“If you say so.”
“Trust me, we got this. You just listen for me to say, ‘Oh my God, thank you’ before you come out.”
I could not fucking believe this was my life right now. I’d defended my country, I’d done horrible things in the process. I’d lost count of how many people I’d killed and tortured, and now I was supposed to put my trust in a man wearing fucking tights and a costume in the middle of the day. Hopefully, with his help, I wouldn’t have to kill Giuseppe’s guards, because that would put a serious dent in our plans.
Me: cameras off on Lennox?
Dean: off
I took a breath. “Lead the way.”
I walked down the hall, looking for Rosie. She told me they were down the hall to the left. I’d already seen four women wearing nothing but towels. If I’d known this was how people walked around here, I would’ve joined years ago. Rosie walked out of a room wearing a white bathrobe.
“Oh my God, you made it,” she whispered. “I already told management a guy on my security team was coming here to bring something.”
“Where’s Lenora?” I looked over her head into the room, but it was empty.
“She’s in there.” She pointed at the room next door. “This is our alone time.”
“So you’re all sitting here getting yourselves off while the rest of us are risking our lives?”
“Rocco.” She slapped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide. “We’re getting massages.”
“Oh.” I shrugged. “You said alone time. What the fuck am I supposed to think?”
“Men are so fucking. . .” She shook her head and groaned like she was annoyed but recovered quickly, because there was an evil sparkle in her eye when she asked, “Speaking of men, how was Jack?”
“He was wearing tights and a sailor costume,” I said. “But he’s pretty badass.”
“She’s in there.” Rosie grinned, grabbed my arms, and tried to turn me around. I turned sideways and looked at the door.
“With a masseuse?”
“No, she’s just there. She turned down the massage. She got her nails done and drank the champagne, but she’s just. . .” Rosie’s eyes watered. “Sad.”
“Thanks for this.” I pulled her head against me and kissed the top of it. “I mean it.”
I opened the door, shut it, and locked it behind me. The room was dark, smelled good, and had the soothing sound of waves playing. There was a massage chair, but further in, there was a white couch, where I found Lenora lying down on her stomach. I didn’t know what her reaction to seeing me would be. She might scream or push me away. She might kiss me and welcome me. I couldn’t tell, but we hadn’t even said goodbye and I wasn’t going to let tomorrow arrive without seeing her first. I kneeled next to her, taking my cap off and setting it on the ground as I ran my fingers through her soft hair. She sniffled.
“Nora,” I said quietly. She turned around, eyes puffy and wide as she looked at me in disbelief.
“How?”
“I have my ways.”
She launched herself at me. I wrapped my arms around her and stood, sitting down on the couch and setting her on my lap. She shifted on my lap to straddle me. My hands slid underneath her bathrobe, up her smooth thighs. She rocked against me when my hands went higher. I leaned in for another kiss. This time, when she pulled away from the kiss, I saw tears streaming down her face and took my hands out of the bathrobe.
“Hey.” I cupped her face with both hands and wiped her tears away with my thumb. “It’s going to be okay.”
She shook her head, her lip quivering like she was about to lose it. I put my thumb on it, as if that would somehow remove the pain. I knew she’d be like this right before the wedding. It was one of the reasons I had to come here today. I wanted to assure her that it would be okay, that she would be fine, that we never had to talk about what happened to her father after tomorrow, and that even though the thought of it ripped me in half, I’d love her even if she chose to walk away from me.