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)
Her dad ignored her, sending a nasty look Jack’s way. “You should have called the minute you knew she was in danger. I’m talking to your dads. I’m calling Aidan.”
Jack shrugged, looking around like someone could explain it to him. “Again, almost thirty, and my folks are well aware of what I do and what Harlow does. Have you considered therapy, Uncle Chase?”
“He’s on all the therapists’ no-go lists,” Papa replied. “Therapists who see him usually need therapy.”
Her mom took her hand. “Baby, are you okay? What happened tonight?”
While Jack and Ian continued to argue with her dad, she turned to Papa and her mom. “Everything was great until I went to pick up my client. I failed to realize the bathroom was wired for sound because we were in a lifestyle club, so I let my guard down and nearly got my client and myself killed.”
She didn’t want to admit why.
She wanted to run. That was what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to consider those words Niall had said.
I was going to tell him that she needs us both and we should gently maneuver her into a relationship where we share her.
That wasn’t happening.
She wasn’t thinking about how it would feel to be in between them. She’d been in a family where that was the norm all of her life, but she’d never actually thought about trying it. Probably because she had never met two guys she wanted at the same time.
“But you’re okay?” Papa asked.
She nodded. “Because of Jack. He was willing to give up his cover to save us, so if you could get Dad off his back, that would be great.”
“I get the feeling there’s a whole lot of story to those other two, though,” her mom said as Jack started to argue with her dad.
“I’m going to get some coffee.” Harlow stalked out and moved toward the break room. She knew this building well since she’d trained here. She learned a lot here. If only she’d learned not to have feelings for assholes.
Her mom followed behind her and she heard her mom telling her papa to give them some space.
She took a deep breath when she made it to the break room and wondered where Charlotte kept that vodka she talked about earlier.
“Sweetie, I’m sorry, but you have to know we’re worried about you. I know you’re competent,” her mom began.
Harlow huffed out an unamused laugh. “Oh, I assure you I wasn’t tonight. I was everything Dad has always been worried I would be. I was reckless and dumb and a complete fool.”
Her mom’s eyes had gone wide. “So those men didn’t simply get caught up in your case. They’re why you were reckless.”
She took a long breath and turned, leaning against the sink. “The case was supposed to be simple. I was contacted by Miranda’s mom, who like Jack mentioned, she was estranged from. He’s right about that. Hamilton likes to bring in people with pressure points and no one to turn to. I realized this was connected to what happened with Daisy O’Donnell about halfway through. The police busted it up, but they only got part of the organization, the part that was the easiest to put a finger on and say this is criminal.”
Her mother frowned. “Hamilton is the man you were investigating in LA.” Her arms crossed over her chest and Harlow was reminded that her mom might not be an investigator by profession, but she was still a smart cookie. “So Jensen worked that case with you. You had no idea he was in Dallas now. Is he a fed, too?”
At least she wouldn’t have to explain it to her dads. “No. He’s a civvie. His brother got caught up in Hamilton’s web a few years ago. He died. I wish I could believe Jensen is in this to pull down the whole organization, but I think he’s biding his time, working his way up so he can kill Hamilton himself.”
“He’s the reason you cried for a month after you came home,” her mom surmised. “Is he the reason you were in jail? I never understood that. You’re smart. You would have gotten out if you could. He blindsided you. Did he know it was coming or did he just save himself?”
Damn. Her mom had learned a lot from her dads. She might be an artist, but she listened and knew people. “He claims he did it because it was getting too hot. He was scared I would get hurt. We were getting to a point in the investigation where I was going to be asked to do something that would give them power over me. It was something I had been working toward since the girl I was trying to get out was at that level, and I couldn’t get to her unless I was the same.”