Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” Molly admitted. “I’ll be careful. I’m used to being careful.”
“You’ve got me to watch out for you.”
“Thanks, Sonia. By the way, I put your gun under the pillow when I heard Bastien coming up the stairs. I thought you probably didn’t have a license for it.”
“You’d be right. Thanks, honey. Are you going to go tell your man you’re going home with him, because I think he plans to sleep downstairs if you stay.”
Before Molly could answer, Evan’s voice called up the stairs. “Your boss is here, Sonia. Can you come down?”
“He’d better not be referring to Joshua,” Sonia whispered.
“I heard that,” Joshua called. “And I am your boss. In this case, he’s referring to Jerry. If you want to come down, I’ll come up there and get you.”
“How could he possibly hear that?” Molly asked. “You were whispering.”
“Big ears,” Sonia said in a loud voice. “I don’t need you to help me walk,” she added. She wasn’t about to be carried like some little child in front of everyone. She threw back the blanket and swung her legs over to one side. Her thigh hurt, but it wasn’t that bad. Her face hurt more. She could hear Jerry muttering something about “damned kids.” There was genuine worry in his voice. She saw the same anxiety on Molly’s face. She had friends. Good friends. She’d done that on her own.
Joshua padded in on bare feet, so silent she scented him but never heard him. His shaggy blond hair fell over his forehead, drawing attention to his eyes. She could see his leopard was staying close, watchful, the crystalline blue giving the cat away. Fresh blood was seeping through the sleeve.
She drew back before he could lift her. “You’re bleeding again.”
“I popped out the stitches.”
“What were you doing?” There was a wealth of suspicion in her voice.
“Things, baby. Taking care of business.” He slipped his arms under her knees and lifted her against his chest. He was gentle, taking care to bring her in close against him where she was safe. “Put your arms around my neck.”
She did, burying her face against his shoulder and inhaling to draw his scent deep. “How can you smell so good after a long run, a fight with a madman and getting shot? That’s not fair.”
“Not fair is a gun going off and hearing your woman’s breath catch, knowing she just took a bullet. Scared the ever-living fuck right out of me.”
She smiled against his shoulder. “I hope not.”
“It isn’t funny, Sonia.” There was no answering laughter in his voice. “That second took a few years off my life. I never want it to happen again.”
She pulled back to meet his eyes. “Uh-oh. That sounds like you telling me you’re doubling security around me or something.”
“Or something,” he agreed as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“What are you planning? Whatever it is, just forget it. This was Molly’s drama, not mine. I’m perfectly fine. No one’s even thought about me for over a year. I’m dead to them, remember?”
Before he could answer, Jerry rolled his wheelchair right to them. Fast. Nearly knocking Joshua over. He was wild-eyed, his hair disheveled. If Jerry could look pale under his permanent tan from all the years working outdoors, he did. “How bad is she hurt? Why isn’t she in a hospital? If it’s the money, Sonia, we can handle that.”
“If she needed to go to the hospital, Jerry, she’d be there,” Joshua said.
He set her in a dining room chair. Forensics had taken photographs and there was an outline of a body on the great room floor. Tape roped off the large room, denying any of them access. Jerry kept looking from the mess in the great room to Sonia’s face.
She glared up at Joshua. “I’m perfectly fine, Jerry. They put a Band-Aid on my thigh. Thanks for coming to check on me, though. I really appreciate it, although I didn’t expect it.”
Jerry rubbed his chin. The stubble was present. The appearance came around the five o’clock mark just as if Jerry’s shadow was the one talked about most. Instead of being attractive, as she found Joshua’s, Jerry’s was mostly salt and pepper, giving him a patchy look.
“I can’t afford for you to be off work,” he said gruffly. “You run my crews, remember?”
“I will be at work tomorrow,” she affirmed, knowing he said it to deflect what he was feeling. He had driven all the way out to her house in his special van just to make certain she was alive and safe.
“She won’t be,” Joshua contradicted. “She’s taking tomorrow off.”
“She isn’t.” She gave him a look that should have withered him on the spot, or had him dropping dead. “She will be at work as usual, Jerry.”
Joshua shook his head. “She’s taking a day. Medical advice.”