Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
It didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t sit well at all.
Sloan had been taking care of herself for less than a month. And her parents weren’t much better than his had been. How was she supposed to be a good mother when the only example she’d ever had had been content to sell her off into a political marriage to further her own power?
Damn it, that’s not fair.
But then, he didn’t much feel like being fair right around now.
He stalked into his house, but the walls were too small, the closed shutters only adding to the feeling. He needed to move. More than that, he needed to hunt something.
Someone.
He had his phone in his hand before he could think better of it. Stefan answered on the first ring. “What now?”
“Dmitri Romanov.”
“Oh, fuck off. It’s bad enough that I’m on that bastard’s radar. I’m sure as hell not going to go looking for him. Owing you my life doesn’t mean I’m going to get myself killed for you.”
The fear in Stefan’s voice almost made him reconsider, but there was too much on the line to be delicate. Still…He strode another circle around his living room. “I just need an address.”
“You’re not going after him.”
He snorted. “I thought you didn’t want to be involved.”
“Newsflash, your contrary ass involved me when you had me hunting down information on that chick. And, to be perfectly honest, things were rather dull before you burst in and saved my life like some kind of psychotic superhero. If you die, that would be fuck-all for shit going forward.”
“Stefan, sometimes I have no goddamn idea what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying going after Romanov is fucking suicide, and you’re smarter than that.”
Maybe two weeks ago, but that was before the stakes had been raised. Before Jude potentially had something to lose. Going after Dmitri, even in a roundabout way, was like stepping into a cage with a rabid lion and hoping for the best—it was risky as hell and not to be done if there were any other option. Unfortunately, Jude was fresh out of options. He had to ensure Dmitri didn’t snatch Sloan, and there were only two ways to do it—keep Sloan on lockdown indefinitely…or go straight to the source. Since he knew how the former would go, that really only left him with one option. Hate getting painted into a fucking corner.
He moved to the window and stared out through the thin crack in the shutters. “The address, Stefan.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Fine.”
“And I need a local doctor—someone who can do blood tests and is known for their discretion.” The sooner he knew which way the pregnancy scare went, the better. Hell, he should have called Stefan before traipsing up to Portland, but he’d been too goddamn frazzled to even consider it.
Stefan was silent for a beat, and then another. “That will take longer to get ahold of than the address.” He didn’t ask why Jude needed a doctor with those credentials, and Jude didn’t offer.
“By the end of the week.” He hung up. It’d have to wait either way. He needed a chance to scope out the Russian’s defenses and see just how suicidal a man would have to be to make an attempt on him. Hoping it wouldn’t come to that was useless. Jude didn’t rely on hope. All he had were cold hard facts, and the fact was Dmitri had threatened Sloan, no matter how carefully worded it had been, or how he’d done his best to pretend they were on the same side.
They might have similar goals when it came to Colm Sheridan.
They sure as fuck didn’t where Sloan was concerned.
He wanted her for his own reasons, and Jude wasn’t about to give her up before the condom broke. Now? Now he’d slaughter his way through every person in the Romanov camp if it meant keeping her safe.
Careful there. You’re in danger of forgetting your mission.
He turned to stare at the picture of his family. Revenge had been the only thing keeping him going for a very long time. It was always the end goal, from the second his mother first pressed a .45 into his hands. All the hunts, all the kills, all the paydays—all to give him the resources he needed to fulfill his mother’s dying wish.
Kill the Sheridans.
Make Colm pay for what he’d done to Jude’s family.
He didn’t know what he’d have if he didn’t have that. Quitting when he was so close to seeing his endgame realized…He couldn’t even wrap his head around the thought. It would be a betrayal to his mother, to the brothers and father who he’d never get to know because of what Colm Sheridan did.
But moving forward now, when he had Romanov on his ass and the potential that Sloan might be pregnant, didn’t sit right with him, either. Was endangering the living worth fulfilling his promise to the dead?