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)
She sighed as the helo took off. “It might be better if you did. Niall, I don’t know what I’m going into. It could get dangerous, or we could be making a complete mountain out of a molehill.”
“I’m going with you. I’ll follow all of your instructions, but I won’t let you go alone.”
The helo banked left hard, and he was almost certain that fucker was trying to show off. Or make him hurl.
“I could go with you,” Jasper offered. “I know a lot about danger.”
“You know a lot about punching cows and trying to avoid boardrooms,” Harlow quipped. “He’s ex-military. I assure you he can handle himself.”
Jasper seemed to slip the chopper into light speed. “Then I’ll hang out until you need a pickup. I think this is going to be fun. My uncle’s boss is always a hoot, and he’s going to love bailing me out of jail for buzzing downtown buildings.”
“Uhm, this is illegal?” Niall asked.
“Oh, absolutely. I’m apparently going to be violating the flight plan I filed about twenty minutes ago, but it’s fine,” Jasper assured him. “I’ll tell whatever honey they send to yell at me that I got lost. Dallas is a big place, and honestly, it was laid out by a drunk asshole. Everyone knows that. So it’s perfectly normal for me to mistake one building for another.”
“A high-rise office building versus a three-story, shitty apartment building?” Niall asked as they raced over ranchland. He noticed one of the cows looking up with an aggrieved huff, probably because they were ruining a perfectly nice morning. Of course, that’s what Jensen had done. They should still be in bed, all cuddled up and happy. “I assume we’re heading to Jensen’s. I only know it’s three stories and crappy because he talked about it. I’ve never been. Do we even have an address?”
“Ruby has it. She’s sending me all the details. She found it on the Dark Web,” Harlow pointed out.
They were coming for Jensen. They knew where he lived. They would try to steal his information, and if he was there, they would take him out.
As angry as he was at his best friend, he also couldn’t imagine a world without him. He might never be as close to Jensen Wiley as he had been the last few days, but he didn’t want the man dead.
“It’s going to be okay.” Harlow turned her head so she could see him. She gave him a weak smile. “They might not get there before we do. Big Tag is sending someone to check it out. Take a deep breath. We’re probably panicking for nothing, but I would rather be wrong and make the most awkward scene of all time than be right and late.”
He held her gaze for a moment and nodded. “We’ll do what we have to.”
“Now wait a minute,” Jasper said. “Who is this other guy? Sweet darling, are you into all that crazy three-way stuff? Because I’ve heard that can be fun.”
He was going to kill the kid.
Harlow sighed and turned back around. “Pay attention to your flying. And we are not a threesome.”
Not anymore. Niall knew the words she didn’t say. They had been. They’d been moving toward something so special and right. Nothing would ever feel as good as knowing his best friend was there.
The betrayal weighed heavy on his heart as they sped toward Dallas.
He had no idea what they looked like at the end of this. He only knew they would never be the same.
* * * *
Jensen slid out of the SUV and looked at the craptastic apartment building he’d lived in for the last couple of months. It was a dump. It was more motel than upscale downtown condo. Located on the edge of an industrial district, it was somewhat quiet and cheap, and he was pretty sure most of the people who lived here were involved in some kind of crime.
It wasn’t a place for Harlow.
“So the hard drive is in your apartment?” Jack asked, glancing at his watch. He’d spent a lot of the drive on the phone talking to his boss, and it looked like he didn’t want to be late for the meeting they set up.
“I have it in a hidden compartment,” he replied. “I can go up and get it if you want to stay here.”
Jack’s cell trilled again, and he sighed. “Ruby. I think they know you’re gone.”
It was morning, and they would be awake by now. No question. She would have rolled over and sighed and rubbed up against Niall, who would kiss her and call her princess. She wasn’t. Harlow wasn’t a royal princess with high-maintenance needs. She was a warrior princess.
Did she reach for him and think he’d gone for a walk or to make coffee? How long was it before she realized he was gone?