Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Corbin gaped at the older man. Perhaps Kent had been right. Maybe this was good for him.
“You’re such a brat,” Hayes muttered.
She smiled at Hayes widely.
Hayes pointed at her. “Two hours. You stay by one of our sides at all times. I mean it. No going more than an arm’s length away.”
“One of your arm lengths or mine?” she asked.
“Yours,” Hayes barked. “You need to go anywhere, then you tell one of us and we’ll take you. You don’t go anywhere that we don’t okay first. If you feel uncomfortable or you need to leave, you tell us. If there is a situation, Corbin will grab you, and I will find our way out of there. You will do exactly as we say. No arguments, no chit chat, no hesitation. Understood?”
She nodded.
Corbin hoped she was taking all of this to heart.
Biting down on her lower lip, she suddenly looked pensive and unsure. The swing between emotions seemed unexpected. But he was slowly beginning to understand that with Bebe, you couldn’t always take her smiles at face value. There was a lot more going on in the background. She’d been emotionally abused and neglected by her parents. Then publicly rejected. Shamed and harassed online. And he thought there was something more going on with her too.
So she could sometimes swing from teasing and laughing to being worried and unsure like right now.
He knew Hayes had noticed that too.
“If it’s too much work, we don’t have to go,” she told them. “I don’t want to put you guys in any danger.”
“You won’t be,” he reassured her, hating to see her upset. “We have this handled, right, Hayes?”
“Sure,” Hayes grumbled. “Guess it’s better than sitting on that monstrosity all night while trying to watch the game on my phone screen.”
Bebe winced. “If it helps, there are TVs in the pub.”
“Well, why didn’t you lead with that, girl,” Hayes grumbled.
18
Bebe headed down the dark alleyway.
Only to have a hand wrap around her arm and haul her back.
“Hey!” she cried. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” Corbin shot back at her.
“I’m heading to Callahan’s,” she said. Was he losing his memory? What was wrong with him?
He glared down at her, then at the alley. “Are you trying to tell me that the bar is down there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“It’s down a dark alleyway?” he asked incredulously. “With no signage? On a street where there are barely any people?”
“Um, yes.”
“We’re not going down there,” Hayes stated, giving her a firm look. “It’s not safe.”
Jeez. Hayes thought brushing her teeth wasn’t safe for her! All right, slight exaggeration, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly started arguing that she could harm herself with the toothbrush.
However, she’d been counting on Corbin to be more level-headed and reasonable.
“The door to get into the pub is just a few steps into the alleyway. Please, just trust me.” She gave him her best pleading look.
“Told you,” Hayes grumbled. “She thinks that pout can get her whatever she wants.” He stepped away a few paces while Corbin stared down at her firmly.
“Well, it won’t. I’m not letting you put yourself in any danger. You’re too precious to me.”
Her breath caught in her throat at his words.
Precious to him?
What did he mean, precious to him? She was a client.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed. “Let’s forget I said that. It wasn’t professional. Probably why I’m not sent into the field that often.”
“What?”
“Probably shouldn’t have said that, either. I have field skills. I was a CIA agent before I worked for JSI. So I can do this job, it’s just that I prefer to be the man behind the scenes.”
Oh.
That actually made her feel better for some reason. Possibly because the idea of him putting himself in danger scared her.
And why was that?
Was he precious to her as well?
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that,” she said, although that didn’t mean she would forget. “If you come down the alleyway.”
He heaved out a sigh, giving her a look of disgruntlement. “I don’t like ultimatums.”
“Please.” She put her hands up, pleading with him.
“Are you really telling me there’s a bar down there?” he asked skeptically. “How does anyone know it’s there?”
Yay. He was going to see reason.
“There really is, and it’s a pub. But it’s a different sort of place.”
“How is it different?” Hayes asked, coming back. “Does it sell booze?”
“Well, yes.”
“Does it have four walls? Chairs or stools? Does it have a toilet?” Hayes asked.
She heaved a sigh. “You’re hard work sometimes.”
“I try,” Hayes deadpanned.
“Callahan’s Pub isn’t a place that most people know of. The Duke doesn’t advertise. It’s purely word of mouth. Memberships are handed down. You have to be a member to get in or be with one. A member can bring a number of people, but they have to let the Duke know first.”