Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
But then Ezra had known where he was for a whole lot of years. Ezra had been raising Roman with Kim. His son was sleeping on a couch while Ezra took the only bed in the place.
That didn’t sit well with him. Oh, sure he’d started out watching over Roman while Kim stayed up, but that wasn’t the way it ended. It wasn’t the way it was going to end.
It was time to start taking back his life.
He pushed through the door. “Get up.”
Ezra’s eyes flew open and he sat straight up in bed. “What?” He looked around like he could find the threat. “What’s happening? Where’s Roman?”
The threat was standing right in front of him. He was so ready to give his brother a beatdown, but it would have to wait. “My son and wife are sleeping on a way too small for the two of them couch while you’re all comfy in here. Somehow that doesn’t seem fair to me.”
Ezra was up on his feet in a heartbeat. He shoved his socked feet into sandals. Freaking sandals. The last time he’d seen his brother, he’d been a Marine with a perfectly kept high and tight and clean-shaven face. Now it seemed like he was trying to look like his boss, with shoulder-length hair and the beginnings of a beard. He looked older. There were lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Ezra’s hair was starting to gray, silver shooting through the dark brown. He was thinner than he used to be, lean but not without strength.
“Kim was supposed to wake me up when she wanted to go to bed. I never meant for her to sleep on the couch. I was going to take that chair so someone would be in here with them,” his brother admitted. He pointed to a small chair that would have been incredibly uncomfortable.
As much as he wouldn’t mind his brother being tortured in that thing all night, he had other plans. “You can take the couch in the living room.”
“Beck, we should talk.”
Beck shook his head. “No. We should have talked years ago. We should have talked when you got into trouble. We should have talked when you decided to blow up your life and my marriage.”
“It wasn’t like that.” Ezra winced. “Not exactly.”
He pointed his brother’s way. “Did you or did you not ask my wife to keep your secrets from me? Did you beg her? Did you tell her you wouldn’t be able to live knowing I knew how low you’d gotten?”
It was the only explanation. He knew Kim. She didn’t like keeping secrets from him. She’d gotten good at it over the years, but only when it came to her job. After he’d been burned by the Agency, she’d been bound by her oath to keep some of those secrets. And even then she’d walked a razor’s edge to help him.
It was funny what time and distance and a mega shit ton of therapy could do for a guy’s vision. It sharpened and softened all at the same time.
Ezra got a stubborn glint in his eyes, the one he used to get when their parents would push him. Just like back then, it died and he sighed. “It wasn’t that simple, but yes. Yes, I did all of that.”
“And you’ve known where I was for all these years. You could have dropped me a line, maybe an email telling me I have a son.”
“I know you’re not going to believe this, but I wanted to,” Ezra countered. “I’ve wanted to contact you for a while now. Kim thought it was a bad idea. I think she was afraid you would be angry with her.”
He shook his head. That wasn’t what she’d truly been afraid of. “She was afraid I wouldn’t care at all. She was wrong and she understands that now. This isn’t about her. It’s about you and whether or not I’m going to punch you in the face.”
Ezra only backed up a little. “Is that all you’re thinking about doing?”
“Jax has explicit instructions to not let me kill you. I don’t want to get him in trouble, and that’s the only reason I haven’t strangled you. Now get a move on. I’m bringing Roman and Kim in here. You can sleep on the couch and that way if anyone shows up to kill us all, they get you first and I’ll have time to get my family and run. See, you’re already serving a purpose.”
“Beck,” he began.
Beck shook his head. “I can’t tonight. Not with you. We’ll talk at some point, but understand that right now you’re here because Kim wants you here. I have a plane coming tomorrow and if you want to take that boat right back to Malta, you should feel free.”
“I’m not leaving. I know it’s hard to believe but I’ve missed you. I can’t think of why right now, but I have.” Ezra yawned behind his hand. “But maybe I should stay in here and watch over them.”