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)
Her arms crossed over her chest. “So this is all my fault?”
She needed to understand he wasn’t fighting with her. He got it. This was how all their difficult discussions had gone before. She was merely following their old template. He got mad. She got defensive. They retreated to their corners and started all over again.
He wasn’t going by their old playbook. He moved in and put his hands on her shoulders. “Not at all. He’s an amazing kid and that’s because he’s got an amazing mom. That kid adores you. I want to earn his love, but I know what it means to have my parents gaslight me. I’m sure my mom would have said it was for my own good, but what it actually did was made me doubt everything she said to me. It made me doubt my own instincts. You should know I promised Roman I would show him a picture of Levi Green so he would know what the man who wants to hurt his mom looks like.”
She relaxed and her gaze softened. “Yes, he needs to know who to look out for. I’ve been avoiding this talk. I should have had it when he started school.”
“It’s a hard talk to have.”
“He’s just so smart, and he can get anxious. When the school did a unit on global warming he made himself sick worrying about it. I can’t imagine what this is going to do to him.”
He followed his instincts now, the very ones he used to doubt. He pulled her into his arms. “We can talk about it and make some plans, and then sit down with him and discuss it as a family.”
Her arms went around his chest, holding him tight. “I’d like that.” Her head tilted up. “Beck, I know I didn’t say it earlier, but I missed you, too.”
“Beck?” Jax was walking down the stairs, followed by Owen.
He was never going to get his lips on hers. He sighed and stepped back. From the grim look on those faces, they were in for bad news.
“What’s going on?” He kept his voice down. He didn’t want to scare Roman more than he already had.
“Ian’s on a satellite call, and he’s not alone,” Owen replied as Jax set up the laptop on the small coffee table. “Solo, you might want to stay out of sight.”
A shiver went up Beck’s spine. “What does that mean?”
“It means Levi Green just walked into McKay-Taggart and he wants to talk,” Jax explained.
Kim’s hand was suddenly in his. “He’s in Dallas?”
“Yes, and he’s been a busy boy.” Owen scowled down at the laptop like he could see Levi through it. “He’s doing all of this so he can get a look at her. We shouldn’t give it to him.”
“We shouldn’t be talking to him at all.” Why the hell had Ian let the fucker in?
“I can tell Ian we’ve got technical problems,” Jax offered. “But he seemed to think this was important.”
Then he wanted to get this over with. “You bounced the signal around?”
Jax rolled his eyes. “I’m not so out of practice that I would forget to do that. We’re secure.”
“Can you record it?” Kim asked. “I’d like to replay it. He’s got some tells, if I remember correctly.”
“It’s already recording.” Jax pressed a key on the laptop. “And we’re live.”
He glanced over at Kim, who was watching the back of the laptop like it was a snake that might bite her. She nodded, giving him the okay.
He took a deep breath and moved to the couch, sinking down and looking at the screen. “All right, Tag. You want to tell me why you haven’t murdered him and buried his body?”
Levi was sitting in the conference room. Annoyingly enough, he was in the seat Beck usually chose. Ian sat beside him, looking like he could chew someone up and spit them out. But it was the addition of Mitchell Bradford that made Beck curious. Mitch was Big Tag’s lawyer.
“You’re asking me why I’m sitting my ass here at fucking three in the morning? That’s what you’re asking?” Tag growled out.
Levi ignored Tag and leaned forward. “Where’s Solo? Don’t try to lie to me, Ezra.”
Tag looked Levi’s way. “Catch up, asshole. He goes by his real name now. The Agency fucked him up, but I fixed him. Call him Beck or Mr. Kent or anything but Ezra. I don’t want to hear that name out of your mouth.”
So Levi still didn’t know Ezra was alive. Excellent. Tag was telling him to stay away from that name. “How about you tell me why I’m talking to you? As for Kim, she’s not here. She’s someplace safe, and she’s going to stay there.”
“If she’d given me a second of her time, I could have told her the good news,” Levi said with a frown. “You wouldn’t have been forced to play out that horrible scene. Where exactly did you get that chopper? It was unexpected, and honestly, I think you’re compensating for something.”