Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
It’s not some small back of the chair screen on this plane, either. Nope. It’s a whole-ass TV, and since we even have couches to spread out on, it feels just like watching a movie at home.
When we land, I expect Killian’s car to be waiting for us at the airport, but apparently he had one of his friends come pick it up and take it home. An Escalade that looks eerily like the one I was put in when I was kidnapped pulls up, and we all climb in.
We drop Dare and Aubrey off at their townhouse first, then we head for Killian’s place.
It feels like we were gone much longer than we were, but maybe it’s the traveling between time differences playing tricks on me.
Or maybe it’s just because everything has changed.
We get back early enough that I could technically work my second job if I had a ride. I think about calling to make sure they got my shift covered, but then I think about all the boxes I have at Killian’s apartment and how nice it would be to have the evening to just relax after the trip, maybe unpack a few essentials, and go to bed early…
Relaxing wins.
When the car lets us out at Killian’s apartment building, I feel a pinch of remembered anxiety. When I’m standing in the hallway waiting for him to open the door, I remember mere nights ago when I saw Hex and the other guys out in the hall.
Toast is ready to be out of her travel bag, so I unzip her and set her free. Killian takes her bed back over and puts it down where it usually is in his living room, and then we unpack from the trip.
He brought more clothes than I ended up needing since he bought me new stuff in Paris, so I take it to the little section in his closet he cleared for my things.
When I’m in there hanging my clothes up, I notice something I didn’t before I left.
My clutch. The one I took to Kyle’s party.
I bend down and pick it up, frowning as I open it up. The crinkled twenty-dollar bill I tucked away in case I needed to call an emergency cab is there, along with my favorite lip gloss.
My keys aren’t in it, though.
I feel Killian behind me, so I turn and find him standing in the doorway. His gaze drops to the bag, then meets mine.
“I didn’t know you brought this back.”
“Yeah, well… I didn’t really get a chance to tell you.”
I nod, but just barely. I still don’t like what he did, and knowing it isn’t even an isolated incident, that there’s a pretty good likelihood he’ll do something to hurt someone again if the Blue Bloods tell him to…
Swallowing, I look up at him. “Does stuff like this happen… often?”
He smirks faintly, crossing his arms and leaning in the doorway. “No. You caught us in a particularly busy season.”
“How does it work?” I ask softly.
He doesn’t answer me immediately. He’s quiet for long enough that I think he might not, and if he doesn’t, I know I have to be okay with that, but it still feels weird.
Finally, though, he does speak.
“When one of us has a problem, our brothers help us out with it. Whatever that means. It isn’t always bloody. It could be something as above-board as Silvan hooking me up with that investment opportunity so I could generate some money of my own when he knew I wasn’t financially solid like the rest of them were. The scope of the work is limitless. It could be anything.”
“Is it just while you’re in college?”
“No.”
I nod soberly, dropping my bag back on the ground.
“This weekend was just a taste, though,” he says.
I look back up at him.
“You can do anything once you’re hooked up with these guys. Get anything done. The network available to you… it’s unparalleled.”
“I understand the appeal,” I say softly.
“The way I see it, in this world, there are two options. You can be a king, or you can be a pawn. I want to be the one who can get shit done, take care of what’s mine, build a fucking empire. I don’t have a problem with getting my hands dirty if that’s what it takes.”
He says the last part firmly, so I know where he stands.
I swallow. “So, you can’t guarantee nothing like that will happen again.”
“No.”
“Even if innocent people could get hurt.”
He sighs, but I can tell it’s just frustration that we’re not going to agree on this. “I’m not a fucking hero, Brynn. I know you want me to be, but I’m not. I’m not some sick fuck, either. I don’t have a desire to hurt anyone, but I’ll do what has to be done to accomplish my goals and protect what’s mine. I make no apologies for that.”