Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Meg tried to fling her hair from her face so she could see, but she only got glimpses of Galen’s fist rising and falling, of the fury coming off him in waves, of the meaty sound of contact as he punched the man over and over again. He wasn’t lost in a rage, though. There was only icy anger written across his face as he delivered each blow, a punishment for the offense of touching her.
Oh my god.
He lifted the man by the front of his shirt and shook him. “Feel free to deliver this message in detail to my father: no one touches Meg. You come for her again and a beating will be the least you’ll suffer.” He disappeared down the hallway, dragging first one man and then the other after him.
Meg focused on drawing in air from a room that seemed to have none. She just… He just…
What the hell was going on?
Galen reappeared and moved quickly to her side. She couldn’t stop a flinch as he knelt next to her, couldn’t stop a sob from working its way through her chest, though she’d be damned before she let it past her lips. He went still, his dark eyes thawing. “I’m going to cut the zip ties, Meg.” When she didn’t immediately respond, he kept speaking in that soft, measured tone. “You’re safe, okay? They won’t be back.”
He didn’t sound like he believed it any more than she did.
Galen pulled a knife from somewhere and a second later she was free. She should have run. Should have screamed for help again. Should have done anything but sit there like an idiot as he examined her hands, massaging the feeling back into her fingertips. The gentleness was so at odds with the scrapes across his knuckles from the beating he’d just delivered that it made her head spin.
He just kept rubbing her hands as if his touch would make everything better, would send her an hour back in time before… She still didn’t know what those men wanted. Not really. Her pain, a message to Theo, something. She opened her mouth, but what was there to say? This changed nothing. It couldn’t.
“Come on.” He stood and tugged on her hand, pulling her effortlessly to her feet.
It would be so easy to go with him, to let him stand between her and whatever new threat arose. Because there would be a new threat. If Galen’s father sent those men, then… God, she didn’t know. She just didn’t know.
Shock.
Meg was in shock.
She dug in her heels, forcing him to stop moving. “What just happened?”
He looked around the bar as if seeing it for the first time. “You’re safe,” Galen repeated.
“I think we both know that’s a lie.”
He gave a short nod, ceding the point. “You need to come with me, Meg. You’re not safe alone right now.”
But she couldn’t just let herself be towed along by the current that was Galen and Theo. Meg pulled against his grip, narrowing her eyes when he didn’t immediately release her. “How did you know to be here tonight?”
Another hesitation, this one more pronounced. “I’ll explain once we’re somewhere safe.”
That sounded a whole lot like he’d find a way to distract her from her questions once they were somewhere “safe.” Or hand her off to Theo, who would no doubt dodge her questions with the ease of a career politician because that’s exactly what he was. Meg twisted her hand in Galen’s grip and grabbed his wrist. “Galen, I need answers. Now.”
“No, you don’t. What you need is to get out of here before the adrenaline crash knocks you on your ass.”
“Don’t tell me what I do or don’t need like you know what’s best and I’m a stupid kid. I said I need answers, and I mean it.”
He cursed long and hard. Galen shot another look toward the back of the bar, obviously weighing his chances of just hauling her out of here so he didn’t have to bother with her questions. He finally turned to face her, speaking in short, clipped sentences. “My father found out about you. That means Theo’s uncle knows about you. This was a test, putting out feelers for more information. I stepped in, which means they know you fucking matter. Now they won’t stop coming for you until they have the answers they want.”
“You tipped your hand when you stepped in. Why?”
His dark brows lowered and he stared at her for a long moment. “You know damn well why.”
It finally hit her that Galen’s father had sent those men. She ran her free hand over her face, trying to think past the fear coursing through her in time with her heartbeat. “Your father and Theo’s uncle are behind this?”
“For the last fucking time, we will talk about this when we get to the apartment.” He gave wrist another tug that nearly sent her off her feet and towed her out of the bar, barely pausing to let her lock up behind her. “You can’t come back here.”