Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“There’s a diner in town, but if you’re in a hurry there is a fast-food place on the highway that serves breakfast, and they have a drive through. I can show you,” Jensen offered.
Jack waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll find something on the way. At least Nat and Ben showing up with my father last night means I don’t have to wait for Chase before I go back. He can catch a ride with his family. It’s a long drive back to Dallas, and the man likes to talk, if you know what I mean. For a guy who claims silence is golden, he likes to hear himself complain. I won’t even go into the lecture I got on using gas station restrooms. Did you know Chase knows all the bacteria? I mean all of them. I’m pretty sure he could list them and what they can do to your junk.”
“I’m coming with you.” Jensen said the words with a quiet determination.
A brow rose above Jack’s green eyes. “I thought you were going to meet with my father and iron out what you want in an immunity deal. I know I said he was a corporate attorney, and he is, but he’s also one of the smartest men I know. He won’t steer you wrong. He annoys the hell out of me from time to time but if I was in trouble, he would be my first call.”
Jensen shook his head. “It would take too long, and it wouldn’t solve my main problem.”
“Harlow,” Jack surmised. “You think you’re hurting her if you keep her close. You think if you disappear then her family connections can keep her safe.”
Jensen nodded. “Meeting her parents made me believe they’ll do anything to protect her. She’s better off without me. She’ll be much safer, and it’ll be easier for them to keep her far away from this whole mess if I’m out of the equation.”
The Dawsons weren’t like his or Niall’s parents. While Jensen knew his mom would have tried, she wasn’t as fierce as Natalie Dawson. She wouldn’t have walked in and taken control of the situation and helped him figure things out. She would have cried and asked him to tell her what to do. He’d forgotten his father, but he knew damn well he was neither of the Dawson brothers. His father had been concerned with nothing but his own comfort.
Jack seemed to consider what to say. “You know she’s actually a smart, competent woman who can make her own decisions.”
She was everything. She was all he wanted in the world, and this was the only gift he could give her. “She shouldn’t have to make this decision. She shouldn’t have to give up her whole life for me. Would she be able to see her family if she has to go into witness protection?”
“We can’t be certain that will happen.” Jack said the words but there was a hesitancy to them that Jensen pounced on. “You’re making a lot of assumptions. Reasonable ones, but still assumptions.”
“You know it will. Unless Hamilton miraculously dies this will go to trial and it’ll take years. His lawyers will put it off as long as possible in the hopes that something happens to me.” Jensen explained, though he was certain Jack already knew. “And then we’ll get years of appeals. What is the likelihood that I ever come out of protection?”
“It’s good,” Jack countered. “If we convict Hamilton on even a couple of the counts we can tag him on, he’ll be in jail for the rest of his life. Eventually his organization will either break up or move on. He’s not a mafia man, for all he wants to be. When it’s clear he’s not getting out, they’ll divide up anything that’s left and move on. You’ll be okay because there won’t be anyone left who’ll be willing to risk their lives for revenge when the boss isn’t the boss anymore. But, I mean, best-case scenario is still years, and I won’t have any control over where you go or what work they give you to do.”
Nothing the man said made him think about changing his mind. “Do you want your cousin stuck in that life? I’m going to admit something to you. If I could do this all over, I wouldn’t. I would have tried to get justice instead of revenge. If the shit hadn’t hit the fan, I might have been able to slip out of the life with no one the wiser, and I would have gotten a chance with her.”
Jack leaned against the counter. “That’s not likely. Once you’re in, you’re in for life. It’s precisely why Harlow has been asked to get not one, but two women out of the organization. But I understand what you’re telling me. I don’t know that her family can be happy without her. I worry my uncle would look for her, and he would find her. But man, this is going to kill her heart.”