Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
I go very still. “Software?”
“Sure, we’ve got advanced facial recognition stuff wired all over, plus there are recording devices in every room. Your phone’s filled with it too.”
My hands go cold. My stomach feels as though it might drop through my body into the floor. “My phone’s being monitored?”
“Passively. Nobody’s actually listening to the recordings. Well, Adler’s got guys going through them now to make sure you weren’t being tracked by your brother, but that’s just a paranoid precaution. You can still use your phone though, everything’s automatically uploaded to our servers.”
I go very still. My heart’s racing like crazy and I feel lightheaded.
The documents in the duffel hidden in the wall.
In that stupid pipe access hatch.
My conversation with my brother, telling him all about it.
They have it.
They fucking have every word.
And now they’re going to find it.
I get up and walk away, feeling jittery. I head into the kitchen and pour myself an enormous glass of wine.
“You okay?” he asks, squinting at me. “You look off.”
“Fine,” I say. I feel sick. I don’t want to lie to him, but if I tell him the truth, how’s he going to react? Sorry, hon, I wanted to destroy you when we first got married so I stole from you and copied your private documents, ha ha ha, whoops! Oh, also my brother was in on it, he-he. That will fuck everything. Fuck it so hard the war will start again.
Rian will be implicated.
Jayson will strangle me himself.
I’m so beyond screwed.
“Seriously. You look upset.”
“Just thinking about the guys left here to kill me, is all. Not a pleasant thing, you know.”
“I know.” His voice softens. “You’re safe. I promise.”
“Alright, erm, I know that. Mind if I go take a shower? I’m feeling a little eh, you know?”
“Go ahead.” He turns back to his papers. “Rian sent over profiles on each of the guys too. At least your worthless brother is thorough when it comes to fixing his mistakes.”
Normally, I’d defend Rian, but I just get out of there. I hurry upstairs, into our bedroom, slam the door, and throw myself into the bathroom. I turn on the shower, but sit on the edge of the tub, feeling like I might disintegrate into little mushy pieces.
My call was recorded. It’s somewhere in the cloud on some Costa computer waiting for them to find it. And when they do, how will Jayson react?
I have to destroy the documents.
That’s my first step.
Then maybe I can convince Jayson that it was a huge mistake, and maybe he’ll show me pity.
I close my eyes and can see him pummeling my attacker in the face, slamming his fists down over and over.
Murdering a man with his bare hands.
I have to destroy the papers then I need to get the fuck away before that’s my skull he’s smashing.
Chapter 30
Jayson
I brush Fallon’s hair off her shoulder and she flinches. “What’s the matter?” I say quietly as I kiss her neck.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” She rolls over. It’s dark in our room. Three days since the attack, and we’ve done nothing much more than fuck and spend time together, as if making up for missed chances.
It’s been a good few days, except sometimes she seems distant—almost like she’s still afraid of me.
And I don’t understand why.
“That’s not what people say when they’re really fine.”
“In this case, I actually mean it.” She smiles and kisses me, but there’s something forced in her tone.
My alarms should be blaring right about now. I’m normally good at reading people, except my wife’s lips and her lovely, silky pussy are the ideal distractions, perfect for making me think with my dick.
“If there’s something you want to talk about—” I can imagine several things. Our relationship is progressing quickly, and she might be a little nervous about what that means. She was also a virgin only a few days ago, and now we’re fucking as if our lives depend on it, which I very much enjoy, but I can imagine why she might need a little more time to acclimate.
It’s strange, thinking this way. I’ve never cared about another person’s feelings so much before in my life. It’s like bringing her into my world’s opened up an entirely new part of me, one I didn’t think could even exist. Except here I am, lying in bed with my wife, a woman I hated not too long ago, completely obsessed with her and worried about how she’s feeling.
“Really, I’m fine. How can I prove it?”
I shrug slightly, putting my hands behind my head as I lean back on my pillow. “Straddle me.”
“Sorry?”
“Bring your lovely ass over here and straddle me. No, wait, take off your panties first.”
“Jayson.”
“Take them off, wife of mine. I will not have so much as a thin strip of cotton between your lovely body and my own.”