Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“And my team? What do they say?”
“That you’re an ass, and they’ll be happy to be rid of you.”
Rogue scowled. “They were fucking lucky to have him. I didn’t see any of them willing to take risks to get rid of the Russos.”
X chuckled. “I see things are going better between you two.”
Rogue glanced at me and smiled. “Yeah, they are. He even rode my horse.”
X burst out laughing. “Really? I wish you had video of that.”
I huffed. “Very funny. Rogue was amazing. He pulled me up onto Mischief’s back and took out two men like he was in some old western.”
Grant rolled his eyes. “Rodeo tricks.”
“It was hot.”
“Jesus,” Rhys moaned. “I don’t need to hear anymore.”
“So what do we do now?” Rogue asked.
“We’ll stay vigilant, on your end and mine,” X said, “but most likely, for now, we’re clear.”
We ended the call with X, and everyone but Rogue left. They would return with a truck and what they needed to make the bodies disappear. Since my ATV was useless, and it wasn’t good for Rogue’s horse to carry us both back to the barn, the two of us stayed.
As soon as his brothers and TJ were gone, Rogue grabbed my waist and pulled me to him for a kiss that had me ready to strip him down and take him in the pasture again, despite my throbbing foot and the dead men lying a few yards away.
“What happened to going slow?” I asked when he pulled away.
“Slow is bullshit.”
I cupped his face and looked into his eyes. “I love you, Rogue.”
“I love you too.”
Warmth filled my chest. I’d never been happier than I was right then. I glanced over my shoulder. “How long do you think it will be before they get back.”
Rogue grinned. “Not long enough.”
I pulled him back against me. “Are you sure?”
“I’m not rushing this,” Rogue said. “And we’re going to be someplace comfortable.”
“Before this day ends, I’m going to fuck you until you scream.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Tell him. He deserves to know everything before you start a life together.
For once, I agreed with that irritating voice in my head.
“There’s more to the story of my joining the marines. I wasn’t recruited out of high school. I told you my brother had never come back, but what I didn’t tell you was that he’d started harassing our mom, asking her for money. He’d started cooking meth for some dealers that were way out of his league. When he wrote to me, threatening to come back and kill me if I didn’t steal some money for him, I decided to track him down.”
“Shit. Do you ever think about consequences?”
“Says a man who hangs onto angry bulls with one hand.”
Rogue rolled his eyes. “What happened? I’m assuming you found him.”
“I did. When I told him there was no way in hell our mother or me or anyone else was going to get him out of the trouble he was in, he pulled a gun on me, and I shot him.”
“Dead?” Rogue asked.
I nodded. “I might have gotten away with it, but the FBI swooped in right after me. They’d been targeting his operation for months.”
“Fuck.” Rogue’s eyes were huge. “Did they arrest you?”
“Yes, but I negotiated a settlement. I had information they needed, and X was involved in the investigation. When he heard my story, he got involved.”
Rogue shook his head. “This is crazy. Do my brothers know?”
“No. I’ve never told anyone until you.”
Rogue pulled me to him for a soft kiss. “Thank you for telling me. How did that lead to you being in the marines?”
“The deal we worked out was that all evidence of my presence that day would be suppressed if I served six years in the military or went to school and let them groom me for the FBI. I chose the marines.”
“And then impressed the hell out of everyone.”
“So much so that when someone at the Bureau conceived a black-ops mission to take down another drug operation, I was drafted into helping.”
“So they forced you to finish your sentence in the FBI.”
I smiled. “More or less.”
“But you’re done now.”
“I’ve been done for several months, but I didn’t know what else to do with myself.”
“And now you do?” he asked.
I kissed him, a slow, lingering kiss filled with all the love I had for him. “Yes.”
The afternoon dragged on and on. Grant and Rhys returned along with Colton. Rogue helped them take care of the bodies while I was forced to sit on the ground with my foot stretched out.
When we got back to the house, we all needed to clean up and get something to eat. Rogue—the bastard—insisted I rest for a while because I’d run on my foot, and it was now as swollen as it had been the night after I’d injured it. He brought me an ice pack and tucked me into bed.