Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
He stepped out and homed right in on the two sleazeballs that were sitting outside a coffee place across the courtyard from Diana’s unit.
One of them lifted his paper cup Hugger’s way.
Hugger considered flipping him the bird but decided against it.
He also considered going down there and knocking their goddamned heads together.
He decided against that too.
Instead, he stepped closer to the railing and cased the courtyard in the middle of the square complex.
Six breezeways to unit entry vestibules. Two in the middle on each side and one at each corner.
Total fucking open-to-all space in the middle, with ample visitor parking on the north side.
Slip in behind a resident at an elevator lobby, like they did earlier with some unsuspecting resident, then slip in behind some health-conscious moron who takes the stairs, you’re right at their door.
The only good thing he saw was that steel bar which might take explosives to get through.
But a desperate man did desperate things, and Hugger had no doubt Babić wouldn’t blink at setting a few charges to open the way to get to his prey.
He felt company come up at his side, and he looked up at Eight.
“We need to get her in a safe house,” he stated.
“Yeah,” Eight muttered, gazing through the courtyard. “We need to get her in a safe house.”
Hugger then watched Eight jerk up his chin toward the coffee place, like he was saying hello to an acquaintance.
Then he looked at Hugger.
“Your take on Armitage?” Eight asked.
“This is personal to her because of her dad, which is some serious stupid shit.”
“It’s personal to her all right,” Eight mumbled.
“She’s got a beef with her pops,” Hugger noted.
“She does. She’s also got a beef with Babić,” Eight replied.
“That’s not hard, with what he did.”
“It wasn’t what he did to Suzette. It’s what some other fuck did to Diana.”
At these words, it felt like a tidal wave pounded into him, stealing his breath, pulling him under, dragging him out.
It sounded like Eight was ten miles away when he heard, “Hug.”
It’s what some other fuck did to Diana.
“Hug!” Eight called sharply.
Hugger struggled to the surface.
Eight watched him do it, and then asked, “You didn’t clock that?”
“No,” Hugger grunted.
“You got a lock on your shit?” Eight asked.
“No.”
Eight crossed his arms on his chest and studied him. “You’re into her.”
“You’re not?”
“Oh, I’d do her if she gave me a shot, but that’s not where you’re at.”
It wasn’t, considering he wanted to land one in Eight’s throat for saying what he just said.
“You’re inside,” Eight announced.
Hugger stared at him.
Eight was the leader of this mission. And when Resurrection called it, Chaos didn’t say dick.
This had to do with the fact that those men picked up assignments like this on the regular, so they had a lot of experience, and they kept their skillset sharp even when they weren’t out in the world doing vigilante shit for the downtrodden.
On the other hand, Chaos jumped in occasionally, mostly because it was always for a righteous cause, like this one, but partly for shits, giggles and to keep life interesting.
Regardless their motivation, you didn’t question the leader.
But considering Eight had sensed where he was at, Hugger had to question it.
“Don’t think that’s smart, man,” Hugger noted.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve learned, Hug,” Eight began. “You got skin in the game, you go balls to the wall to win it. It’s not like any of us are gonna slack. But you got incentive to keep her ass healthy so you can tap it, that works in a big way.”
“We all need focus.”
“You’ll be focused all right.”
He had zero interest in hashing Diana Armitage out with Eightball.
“You’re lead, I’ll do what you say. But I’m on record,” Hugger finished it.
Before Eight could reply, they heard, “Brothers,” come from the door and saw Muzzle standing there.
Looking through the window, Hugger also saw Diana had returned.
She’d kicked off her shoes.
With them on, she was only four inches shorter than him.
With them off, it came clear he could throw her over his shoulder and haul her sweet, round ass to bed.
Fuck.
He and Eight entered the room, Hugger sliding the door shut behind him.
She waited until he did, before she said, “Suzette is okay with you guys helping out.”
“She know Hugger’s gonna be sleepin’ on the couch?” Eight asked.
Hugger watched closely as her eyes got big, some pink came into her cheeks, and neither helped matters, because both were fucking cute, and both told him she was where he was with this shit.
Terrific.
Her voice sounded slightly strangled when she replied, “She knows, yeah.”
“We’re gonna need fobs, keys, and I need a piece of paper to write some numbers down,” Eight told her.
She nodded and headed to the kitchen, which had gleaming white modern cupboards and quartz countertops. But there was a subtle blue in the pattern of the tile that made up the backsplash, and there were cobalt blue glass globes around the three dangling lights over the island.