Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“I’m a friend of his.”
His nostrils flared, and she assumed his jaw clenched but she wasn’t able to tell with that beard covering his lower face.
“Tell me what you know,” he growled at her.
She didn’t know a damn thing, not beyond that Evan had been found beaten and near death. There were rumors of drugs. Right now, the man was in an induced coma at the hospital to allow his body to begin the healing process.
“Why don’t you tell me what you know, Mr…”
“Rhodes.”
What are the chances this man has the same name as my brother-in-laws? Or is that brothers-in-law? Oh well, not like it’s not a common name.
“Start talking.”
“You know, being all growly and childish isn’t going to get you the results you want any faster. Try being adult about this and talk to me, not yell, curse or anything like that at me.”
She was getting to him, if that twitch at the corner of his right eye was any indication. At least she was sitting down so he couldn’t see her clenching her thighs together like she needed to use them to keep her on the damn pole between her legs.
Great, now she was thinking of a pole between her legs. More than that, his pole.
Another growl, panty-soaking, if she were thinking about things like that—which she decidedly wasn’t—rolled up from his throat.
“You will tell me everything you know about the assholes who put him where he is. What happens after that, little girl, you don’t have to worry about.”
Little girl.
Hot or not, this man is a fucking ass.
And her temper, which had been simmering since she’d walked into this clusterfuck, boiled over. Hands on her desk, she got to her feet and glared over the hard expanse at him.
“Little girl?” She drew in a swift breath, and cursed herself because she was instantly surrounded by a heady masculine scent that didn’t help anything below her nose. “If this is how you speak to people, no wonder you’re not getting the answers you want. I’m going to ask you to leave now, Mr. Rhodes, and if you decline to take me up on my generous offer of walking out the door on your own, well, that’s fine because I will just call the cops and have them remove you from here.”
He ground his jaw and leaned closer. “Do you have any fucking idea who I am?”
“Besides an overgrown, ill-mannered prick? No, and not only that but, newsflash, I don’t give a fuck. Get out.”
The gorgeous Viking opened his mouth but snapped it shut when the door behind them burst open. Violet was shocked at how fast he moved. Not just spinning around to face the doorway but to put himself in front of her, almost like he was protecting her.
“Where the fuck is my son?” a graveled voice demanded.
Edging sideways to see around the extremely broad back of the man in front of her, she saw an older man standing there, his hawkish face red. She wasn’t sure if it was weather related, anger or something else. But his suit was damn expensive-looking, as was the trench coat draped over his thin shoulders.
His watery blue gaze latched onto her. “Are you the one responsible for his getting hurt? I’ll shut this place down.”
I’m killing my sister for this.
“Hold on a minute.” She began moving away from the living wall in front of her.
Or so she’d thought. He moved with her.
“Mind your tone speaking to her.” The warning was low and dangerous.
“Do you know who I am?” the newcomer demanded.
“I do. You’re Senator Hayes. Evan Winter’s sperm donor.”
Well, shit, she’d not expected that response. At all.
Hasting Rhodes wasn’t a nice man. Hadn’t ever pretended to be otherwise. He’d grown up the youngest of three boys whose father had taken it upon himself to make their lives a living hell. On the outside they were perfect. Billionaire family, connections that couldn’t be beat.
Behind closed doors, however, their father had shown them his true face. Abusive in all the ways—emotionally, physically, and verbally. Having grown up seeing his two older siblings doing their best to protect him and being unable to do a damn thing about it, he’d sworn he would get bigger and stronger. To never be in that situation again.
And he had. He now served in the military in a special ops group that operated so far into the black they answered directly to the president. No one else, although many had tried to give their group orders.
No longer the little, scared boy he’d been, Hastings had pretty much cut himself off from his family. Sure, he spoke to his brothers on the rare occasion, but he definitely kept his distance. When he’d gotten injured last year and had been flown home, he’d seen them both once before he’d vanished again. Something he excelled at doing. To say he had been shocked when he’d got the notification his brother Bradford had left a message for him would have been an understatement. Regardless, he’d not gotten it right away.