Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I couldn’t breathe. He was too close, his eyes too intense. Like the plane, this room was too small to contain him. When I tried to back up, his hands stopped me.
“What is it you want?” I asked, my lips trembling.
He gave me a smile, an even mixture of sweetness and longing. “Everything.”
My legs almost crumpled beneath me. What he wanted was so much worse than sex. So much harder for me to give. After Paul, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to find another man to trust. To care about. Certainly not to love.
“You can’t have that,” I said.
“I know.” But he kissed me anyway. My traitorous body leaned into it, enjoying his mouth on mine. It sent a jolt through me. My heart wanted to leap from my chest. This couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
“I’m sorry about what I said last night.” He whispered it against my lips.
What had he said? Why, exactly, was I mad at him again? His addictive kiss disoriented me. He brushed the hair back out of my eyes, his hand settling on my cheek.
“But I’m not sorry about what happened between us. Not in the slightest. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but that wasn’t one of them.”
This kiss put the others to shame and made the earth’s axis shift. No, my brain screamed. Too much. He’ll take you over just like you let Paul do. You’ll become nothing.
I flattened my hands on his chest and pushed as hard as I could, which only resulted in me nearly toppling over.
“Thank you for the clothes,” I said, stepping back. I had to put space between us.
He stared at me.
The confused look in his molasses-colored eyes shifted and determination moved in, like this was not acceptable. He would demand more, and I’d be crushed beneath him. I had to stop him before it was too late for me.
“I won’t give you what you want,” I said. “I’m not capable.”
He blew out a breath. “I proved you wrong before.”
“You won’t this time.”
He considered the statement carefully. Then he gave me a look that spoke volumes. Sweet Shawn had been replaced with Adversary Shawn again. “Put your shoes on,” he said. “I’d like to have dinner in the restaurant downstairs.”
Downstairs? In public? My head spun. “Did Jason say that was okay?”
He was smug as he strolled over to the door and opened it. “Jason and your sister will be joining us.”
“What?” I stepped into my shoes and hurried alongside him. They’d come out of hiding? I was halfway through the door when the realization brought me to a halt. “What’s happened?”
“Something good.” Shawn’s strong arm slipped around my waist and guided me toward the elevator doors where Markus lingered.
I felt exposed in the restaurant, even in the intimate booth with high walls, and Markus seated nearby.
My sister was nearly eight months pregnant, and her slim dancer’s frame exaggerated the pregnancy, so she was all belly. It also seemed to give Laurel the strength of two full-sized men instead of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, because her embrace was ferocious.
I still wasn’t used to seeing her as a brunette. Otherwise, we very much looked alike, although she was shorter. I used to joke she was the travel-sized version of me.
I gave her a warm hello, but my focus was on Jason, who looked far more relaxed than the last time I’d seen him.
“What’s going on?” I slid into the booth, Shawn beside me, trapping me in. Beneath the table, his hand rested casually on my thigh, and in my distraction, I allowed it.
“The Italian AISE confirmed they have Juric in custody.”
Breath by breath, weight began to ease from my chest. “He’s been recaptured?”
Jason nodded. “Last night. Ethan’s working to get him extradited to the US.” He leaned back against the booth wall, tossing a thick arm around my sister’s shoulders. “Let’s give it a few days for the word to spread to the people after Juric, and then you can go home with some security in place.” His gaze flicked to his brother, like he was issuing an order, before returning to me. “Security that’ll report to me.”
In my relief, my hands dropped to my lap, landing on top of Shawn’s. “It’s over?” I said it aloud, convincing myself.
“Yes.” Laurel was practically beaming.
Shawn leaned in so his mouth was close to my ear. “Your interview is scheduled with Diana tomorrow at ten.”
Wait, what?
My mouth dropped open. That . . . bastard.
My teeth snapped shut and my hands clenched into fists. I should have seen it coming from the victorious smile he’d flashed earlier.
“Do you think I like being manipulated?” The words burned in my throat as I flung his hand off me.
“No, I don’t, but—”
The hand returned, so this time I sank my nails into it and enjoyed watching the muscles of his jaw tighten in discomfort.