Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“No.” I motion for Ethan to vacate my chair.
“I’m going to be blunt with you guys,” Beckett says, making her way back over to her own desk.
“You’re on thin ice,” I remind her.
“So that means I can’t voice my opinion?”
“Voice away.” I shrug.
“It was more of a warning,” Ethan tells her. She lifts a brow at him. “We served together. I was under him. I know how he operates.”
“I only wanted to say that you two are really close to this. To an outsider—”
“Which you most certainly are.” I issue yet another reminder, not bothering to give her my full attention. I’m pulling up the phone logs. I had Hollis pull it. I could have done a workaround, but this was quicker.
“As an outsider,” she keeps going, “it seems to me the most logical person that would do this would be Kin—”
“Hudson,” Ethan says, cutting Beckett off before she can suggest Kindred is responsible for this.
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” Beckett doesn’t mask her annoyance at being cut off.
“Wait, I mean he’s been in love with her since he met her, and she’s been making him run circles. This could scare her and send her running right into his waiting arms,” Ethan adds to get on my nerves.
“Are you done?”
“That was rude,” Beckett snaps at Ethan. “He would never.”
“You’d be surprised what a person would do to get what they want.” He tosses it right back at her. I glance up from my screen to see Beckett staring daggers at Ethan. She has gone from annoyed to pissed.
“I think that you—”
“Stop,” I order her. “He’s poking at me and fucking with you.”
“I don’t find that funny.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“No one asked if you did,” I say dryly and hear Ethan fight a chuckle.
"Why are you being so rude to me?" Beckett's expression falls. Am I being too big of a dick? Likely. Do I care? No.
"You were about to accuse my woman of crazy shit."
"It's my understanding that Kindred Cane is known for doing odd and crazy things." Beckett lifts her chin as if she’s hit the nail on the head and solved the crime.
Ethan barks a laugh. "I mean, she's not wrong." I lean back in my chair.
"Kindred’s antics have a reason behind them. Her intentions are always pure. Why would she do this? What would be the motivation?" I don't want to play into this, but I do want to shut it down.
"See, right there. You don't see that maybe you're biased."
"Don't really care if I am."
Beckett throws her hands up. “Men.” She rolls her eyes. “She’s playing the damsel in distress so you’ll run to her rescue. Everything she does is about getting your attention.”
“That’s the stupidest fucking thing that I have ever heard,” I tell her.
“I mean, he’s not wrong either.” Ethan always has to add his two cents. More so now that he’s not under me in rank. “Kindred breathes, and it’s got Hudson’s attention.” Isn’t that the truth?
“Kindred would never want to be seen as the damsel in distress. That’s not who she is, and as I said, you’re new here, so you don’t know the residents of New Hope the way I do. It’s not her.”
"Well, if you know everyone here, then you know who it is?"
I don't know who it is. There was a beat when I thought it could be a resident of New Hope, but I squashed that. My thought was the town was playing a game of their own and pushing Kindred and me together, but the word "whore" put that thought dead in its tracks.
"I never said it was anyone from here." Beckett's brows rise like she hadn't thought of that.
"Then who could it be?" Ethan asks. "Kindred's whole life is here. Don't see how she'd make enemies outside of this town, let alone in it."
He's not wrong.
The same can't be said about me. How do you get to me? That's an easy, simple question to answer. Kindred.
Chapter Twenty-Two
KINDRED
Candy is watching me. Why, I’m not sure. “What’s up?” I ask, going over the seating chart. I don’t know why I’m doing one at all. People in this town tend to do what they want.
“You’re glowing.”
“I’m what?” I drop my glitter pen and grab my clip off my desk to pull my hair up. I have been going nonstop. The heels I’m wearing, for once, are starting to hurt my feet. I have five million things happening at one time.
"It's called shimmer. I'll put some on your cheeks tomorrow."
"That's not what I meant." She laughs. "All of you is glowing."
"That might be sweat." I try to play it off. I know exactly what she’s talking about.
"Oh my God! It's not, and something is different." I know what’s different, but now is not the time to get into Cash and me. This is about her wedding and love story, not mine. Though I might not have control over it. Cash had kissed me outside, so anyone could have seen. It was early, though.