Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Kind of, but not the same,” I tell him. “I still have a copy of the recording, even though I was told to destroy it. I have the evidence of what happened that night. I saw the whole thing.”
His eyebrows raise. “Jesus. That’s some damning information. Can I see?” he asks.
I look to Hawke for reassurance, but I trust Hope’s instincts about Braxton, and if he so much as tried to fuck me over in some way, she’d kill him herself, of that much I’m certain.
I pull out my phone and show him the video. Hope leans over his shoulder as he silently watches it. Hawke serves me up a plate, as if him feeding me is an everyday thing.
“She knew him,” Braxton says.
“Yep.”
“It’s possible you’ve been targeted in this. I don’t know much about your line of… work. But do you think it’s too much of a coincidence that you were the one to watch it?” Braxton asks.
“Have your men been able to track me breaking into your ‘top secret’ things at the station?” I ask rhetorically. A vein pulses in his forehead, and I feel smug with that answer.
“Sure you haven’t pissed anyone off lately? Broken someone’s heart recently?” Hope asks, taking a small bite of some pasta.
An energy shifts between Hawke and me, and we glance at one another before I quickly look away. Why the fuck did he have to make eye contact with me right in that moment?
When I turn back to Hope, she’s smirking, and I’m quick to say, “I’m always breaking hearts, but this is different. I know I haven’t been compromised because there would’ve been at least one alert on my safety measures in place. But we think we know who it is.”
This gets Braxton’s attention, and he leans back in his chair.
“We think it might be her ex-boyfriend. We want to bring him back to town and get some answers from him.”
Braxton looks confused. “So why do you need me?”
“We want to throw them off the scent,” Hawke says around a mouthful of pasta. “I’m not happy about not killing him either.”
I roll my eyes. “We want it to go public that he’s been caught. We want answers. If it’s who I think it is, he’s not smart enough to be behind this. He’s just a tool. Literally. I think there’s more to this than we know.”
“So why are you making it your problem? Didn’t you get the paycheck?” Hope asks. She knows that’s always how I’ve been. I don’t ask questions, and I don’t go digging further. This time it’s different. My throat feels like it’s constricting. Because I now know what it feels like to be helpless and out of sorts. I might not have agreed with Makayla, but she was my friend at one point, and she deserved more than this.
“She was my friend,” I answer. “I know it doesn’t sit right with you either when men take advantage of women. It might just be a hunch, but I feel like there’s more to this.”
“I can understand the sentiment,” Braxton says as he looks at Hope and I know he’s talking about her and the months he tracked her every step, finally uncovering her secrets. “So my role in this is to take him after you get answers from him, and put him on public display, and then take the glory of finding the culprit so the big fish don’t realize you’re on his tail. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“We should just kill the fucker,” Hawke grumbles around a mouthful, and I kick him under the table. “Ow.”
“You said I was running this show,” I growl at him, and he rolls his eyes. Actually has the balls to roll his eyes at me.
“I can do that. And you’ll bait him back here? How do you plan on doing that?” Braxton asks.
Hope smirks as if already knowing my answer. “Well, he’s just a guy. It should be easy to get him back after a few messages.”
“I see,” Braxton says.
And that’s the end of that conversation as we enjoy our meal. Hawke has already demolished three heaping plates before I’m halfway through the first. We talk about Hope’s upcoming show, and it’s nice to see the way Braxton stares at her in admiration. He’s utterly transfixed, and I know without a doubt he will never betray me because he will never betray her.
“So, what’s happening between you two? You’ve been hanging out a lot. You’re certainly starting to look a lot like a squabbling couple,” she says, piercing a meatball with her fork. Hawke and I both look up at the same time.
“Us?” I look at him in disbelief, and the arrogant asshole has the nerve to smirk as he rests his arms along the back of my chair.
“Yeah, we’d make a pretty hot couple,” Hawke says matter-of-factly.