Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
I laugh, “Hi, Connie and before you reply, Gabe is here, too, as well as Blake Walker from Walker Security.”
“Did I eat at my desk one too many times or what?” Connie says with so much seriousness that I give another silent laugh. No wonder this woman has been with him for so long. He can’t intimidate her.
“You got a call tonight that you didn’t take,” Reid says.
“I did?” Connie asks. “When and who?”
“Yes,” Reid says. “You did. Did you get a voicemail?”
“Hold, please,” she says, and a few seconds later, she’s back. “No message. I repeat: Who called me and why is it a problem?”
“Elijah,” I say, aware that Reid keeps her prepped on anyone who’s a problem and since this isn’t the first time Elijah has been a problem, or even the second time, she knows him well. “And,” I add, “he’s not only trying to ruin Reid and all of us, he decided to start with me. He followed me to a wedding venue today. He even grabbed me.”
“My God,” she says. “Why exactly is this man so damn obsessed with you, Reid?”
I grab Reid’s arm because I know he doesn’t want to have this conversation. He inhales a slow breath and I know he knows what I know; Elijah will tell her about his wife. In the past, he might have wanted it to be hush-hush but now, that’s changed. Reid doesn’t debate with himself long and without preamble he says, “I fucked his wife several years back. I didn’t know she was his wife. He’s trying to say I did and I even fucked her in his bed. All lies.”
I wait for the bombshell reaction that doesn’t come. “Good Lord, does he not have another woman yet to get him over this?”
“Amen to that,” Gabe says. “But he’s still with his wife.”
“And he’s suddenly obsessed with Reid again?” Connie asks. “Is this over the merger? I mean, it can’t be the wife after years have passed, so why now?”
“Good question,” I say. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Maybe I should call his wife, not him,” Connie suggests. “If anyone knows a man, it’s his woman. Anyone got a number?”
Call the wife.
This idea intrigues me.
Reid obviously knows it, too, because he pulls me round to face him. “No. The end. You’re not calling her.”
“Yes, but—”
“No. I will send you away and you won’t be able to stop me. I swear to you I will hire whoever it takes to kidnap you and take you to another country.”
“You’re being an asshole,” I say. “Who isn’t even listening to options.”
“Enjoy, baby, because it only gets better,” he promises and then turns his attention back to the call. “Connie, call him back and then call us back.”
“Will do,” she says. “Do I hate you for being such an asshole, which you are by the way, or am I in love with you and wish you’d have sex with me?”
“Connie,” Reid warns.
“Yeah, yeah, boss. I’ll wing it like I always do.” She hangs up.
Gabe clears his throat. “I think Carrie should call the wife.”
Reid whirls on him. “Office. Now.”
Gabe casts him a hard stare. “Want to throw down, brother? Bring it on.”
The two of them start walking and my heart squeezes with the certainly that Reid’s about to tell Gabe about the past. I look at Blake. “You know about the shooting, right?”
“Yes. I know.”
“Gabe doesn’t. He’s going to tell him. Objectively, do you think I should try to make contact with the wife?”
“I’m pleading the fifth because my wife is an ex-FBI agent and I’d still be worried about her. He loves you. He won’t survive you getting hurt. That’s clear.”
The idea that losing me would destroy Reid isn’t a good one. Being loved that much is special, but I love him back too much to want him to ever feel such pain. My cellphone rings and I walk to my purse where I set it with my coat and grab it to find Cat’s number on the caller ID. “Oh God. This is Cat. What if Elijah went after her, too?”
Chapter one hundred one
Reid
The minute Gabe and I are in his office, I round on him. “Do not fucking make a suggestion that puts my woman at risk,” I snap. “Do you understand me?”
He shuts the door. “I’m trying to help, brother. I’m trying to end this.”
“By ending her? Because I swear to you, Gabe, I will end you.”
“We both know you don’t mean that and you’re obviously out of your fucking mind right now, so I’ll let it go. Carrie influences you. Cat influences Reese. A conversation with Elijah’s wife, a plea to her for help could end this. But that can’t come from any of us. That has to come from Carrie, who’s likable, smart, and the right person to do this.”