Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
“Pete!” my dad orders with a gesture of his hand, and his arsehole of a bodyguard starts pacing toward me. Is he serious?
Jake steps back, taking me with him. “Touch her and I will kill you,” he breathes, calm as can be, yet I can feel the rage coursing through his veins like a dangerous poison.
Pete pulls to a stop, his hesitance clear. He’s wise. I’ve seen what Jake’s hands are capable of. I’ve watched him spiral into a destructive madman and go apeshit all over a group of five men, all comparable in size to Dad’s security. Pete isn’t going to present him with much of a problem.
“Jake,” Lucinda pipes in, giving him a cautious look.
“Listen to her, Sharp,” Dad says, stepping forward. “Is a meaningless roll around in the sheets with a woman worth losing your job for? Your credibility? Quit while you’re ahead. My Camille is too good for you, and you know it.”
I gawp in shock at the words coming from my father’s mouth. The malicious, selfish bastard!
“And what about your daughter’s safety?” Jake asks. “Is that worth compromising because of your pathetic need to control her?”
“I know what’s best for my daughter. As of now, Camille is no longer your concern. Walk away from her and I will not destroy you.” Dad cocks his head and raises his brows, watching Jake closely.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, feeling my control slipping the more my father persists with his relentless threats.
He looks at me, an edge of sympathy marring his round, crabby face. “Because I love you, Camille. Everything I do is because I love you and I want the best for you.”
“How the hell would you know what’s best for me?” I yell, my entire body quaking with frustration and despair. “You’re on your third wife! All you want is a trophy on your arm. A good pair of tits until it all goes south and you find a replacement! Someone who won’t question you and take the money you shower them with! You don’t want what’s best for me! You want what’s best for your fucking business!”
“Do you think you’re not a trophy to him!” Dad roars, flinging his arm out at Jake. “A score for a man who’s clinging onto his ego after being thrown out of the SAS!”
I withdraw, staggered by my father’s low tactics. He’s been looking into Jake? “You know nothing about him!”
“I know enough!”
“How dare you!” I scream. “You have no right to dictate who I see. What I do!”
Jake swings around and pushes me back into his room, his hands finding my face and holding tightly.
“Shhhh,” he hushes me, his lips pressing a kiss to my forehead.
The tender compassion makes me break down completely, and I’m crying uncontrollably as I cling to his forearms.
“Calm down,” he whispers.
I’m staggered by his self-control. I know the agony he shoulders, the self-abhorrence and regret. His parents died at the hands of terrorists. Innocent people caught up in the war. He needed to play a part in stopping them. No one can strip away Jake’s efforts or the danger he put himself in to protect his country, no matter how badly it turned out for him.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” I sob, being pulled forward into his arms. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a hateful bastard.”
“I want you to get dressed,” he says, nuzzling down, pushing his face into mine and raining kisses all over my face. “Get dressed and I’ll go talk to him.”
“No.” I refuse point blank. “He’ll never listen. Just throw him out.” I’m sniffling over my words, my breath catching constantly in my throat.
Jake grabs my face and pulls it up, gazing down at me with nothing but adoration. “Do you trust me, angel?” he asks, throwing me for a loop.
But my answer is still dead easy. “More than anything.”
He nods, swallowing, and releases me. Walking over to a chair in the corner of his room, he takes some jeans off the back and yanks them on, then pulls a T-shirt over his head before slipping his feet into some leather boots. He says nothing more to me and walks out of his room, closing the door behind him. I stand there, desperately trying to fight off the dread that’s engulfing me, not being able to stop myself from fearing that Jake might not come back.
Chapter 21
JAKE
I saw the look in Logan’s eyes when he cocked his head at me. That look told me he knows. My military history, the shrink reports, the statements—everything is confidential and stored on a secure system somewhere in an impenetrable building. If he can get access to that, there’s no telling what else he’s found out. I’m not having him using it as ammo to drive a wedge between Cami and me. She knows some things, but she doesn’t know everything. Not yet. I need redemption. I need to fix too many things and accept myself before I can expect Camille to accept me. All of me, every dark, dirty, sinful piece.