Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
30
The Fox gaped down at his girl.
Just want Brody?
“What?” Brody said. “That’s not the case!”
The Fox held his hand up and she flinched slightly before moving back to her end of the bath and drawing her legs up to her chest defensively.
He hated that.
“What makes you think I only want Brody?”
She stared at her knees, not him.
He hated that too.
Fuck. He’d done this. He’d changed things between them. Made her doubt her place with him.
“You left. And now we’re here because there’s some danger we don’t know about. Not because you want us.”
“That’s not actually true, but let’s get to the part where I only want Brody.”
“You just . . . you wouldn’t look at me. And you seemed so . . . so cold. Did I do something wrong . . .”
“I told you before. You could never do anything wrong. If anyone is in the wrong here, it’s me.” He lightly grasped her chin, tilting her face back. “You keep fucking flinching and it’s killing me. I might have seemed like I’d pulled back or was cold because I didn’t know what to say to make things better. Normally, I’m so good at everything, but I’ve never cared about anyone the way I do the two of you. Baby girl, as hard as it might be to believe, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
She bit her lip and he thought he saw a flash of amusement, which confused him.
He must have gotten that wrong. Maybe it was gas. Or pain from her period. He had to get her some painkiller. He had the one that got put in her bottom here. And the liquid one. Which didn’t seem as much fun.
“I thought I was doing the right thing.” He ran his hand over his face. “That it would keep you safe. And now, you’re in more danger.”
There was something filling his gut. Something that he thought might be regret and guilt.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, grabbing his hand. “Don’t feel bad.”
Fuck. She was too sweet for him. He’d always known it. They were both too good for him.
But he was a selfish prick who didn’t want to let them go.
However, that didn’t mean he could ignore their feelings or hurt them without consequences.
“There is nothing you could do to make me turn away from you. You two are the best thing to happen to me. What can I do to make it up to you? How do I fix this?”
“Maybe . . . maybe you could just start by talking to us. I know you can’t tell us everything. But . . . if you’d just texted or called sometimes, it would have been enough.”
He nodded. “I know I’m shit at this. My childhood wasn’t normal. I wasn’t taught things like this. I wasn’t raised, I was trained. I was taught not to need anyone. To keep myself cold.”
“We can be patient,” she said. “But you just can’t cut me off. I have my own issues. Staying here . . . it’s going to be hard on me. To not feel trapped even though I know you’re doing it to keep us safe.”
He brushed her hair off her face. “I’ll try to figure out a way for you to have some freedom.” If anyone understood what it was like to feel that way, it was him. Leaning in, he kissed her lightly. Then moving to Brody, he gave him a more demanding kiss.
When he drew back, Autumn clapped her hands.
“So. Hot.”
“Can you tell us what’s going on?” Brody asked.
“You know some of it?”
Brody nodded. “I know about what happened at that warehouse with Markovich and Mr. X. We know you didn’t switch sides, Fox. Or at least we know that if you did, there was a good reason.”
“I promise I was always watching. I was there the night you had that accident with the chemistry set.”
“We figured you left those fire extinguishers,” Brody said.
“No more experiments without me around, Bunny.”
“I’m sure it won’t happen again now that I know what I’m doing,” she protested.
He just shot her a look and she let out a sassy sigh which made something inside him relax.
“Brody told me the basics,” Autumn said. “About you working for Mr. Markovich, helping to find his daughter. And then you seemed to switch sides after finding out the bad guy’s identity. And that you killed this Mr. X.”
“I found out that Mr. X isn’t the one calling the shots.”
“And you’re trying to find out who is in charge?” she whispered.
“Yes. I’m working for them in order to discover their identity. But no one can know that. If they got a whiff of betrayal . . .”
Brody stiffened. “We won’t tell anyone.”
He nodded. “I didn’t want them to find out about you. But they texted me last night, threatening to harm those I cared about and I . . . reacted. I scared you.” He glanced at Autumn.