Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 83800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
"There was an incident," I begin, wondering just how much I need to tell him.
I'm not keeping secrets. The man has every right to know what's going on with Cerberus and inside this house, but speaking about what Kaylee and Morgan went through is also a confession that it happened all because of me.
I've grown used to explaining what Henry does and why, but admitting those things to a teammate who just arrived feels like a weakness.
"Morgan was in danger, so she's here for a little while until things are sorted."
"I see," he says, frowning when he lifts his glass again, only to discover it's empty.
"So what exactly happened with Vasilev and Tkachenko?" I ask, wanting to pull his attention from Morgan because he's starting to look like he's considering her an option for his plans later this evening. For some reason, that crawls all over me in the worst fucking way.
He sighs as he shakes his head back and forth. "I've been sitting on them for days, bored out of my fucking mind. Just when I didn't think they were going to do a damn thing, I followed them to a warehouse in Henderson. I snooped around a little and then took a break with every intention of coming back later that night to try and get access to the office. I wanted to see if I could get into their records and prove they were running some sort of forced labor outfit. When I returned six hours later, the entire warehouse was empty."
"Empty?" I mutter.
"They had massive machines printing flyers for different places around town. Like that shit forced into people's hands on the strip," he explains further. "They were just gone. It's like the place never existed."
"And Vasilev and Tkachenko?"
"I went immediately to the compound, feeling like a complete piece of shit," he mutters. "I should've stayed on them."
"You have to rest as well," I say, knowing from personal experience how it feels to lose track of someone during downtime.
"They were gone, too. The house was empty, furniture was gone, just like that fucking factory."
"He's in Indian Springs," I remind him. "We have trackers on all his vehicles."
"Doesn't matter," he says, growing increasingly frustrated when he looks down at his empty glass again. "I should've been there to follow him out of town, not showing up and having to call you to find out where he went."
I don't argue. There's nothing I can do about his regrets and what-ifs, so I remain silent.
I pull in a deep breath, already ready to leave this little gathering, and head back upstairs. I watch as Morgan breaks off from chatting with Heathen and Kaylee and begins looking around the room.
At first, it seems like she's purposely avoiding looking in this direction as if everything else in the room is of more interest despite there being little more than a handful of people here, but then her eyes lock on me.
I stand a little straighter, vowing that I'll make myself look like a fool if she asks about darts again just so I can spend a little time with her, but then Twisted approaches her.
"Oh, it's like that," Whiskey says. His ability to observe and fully understand what's going on is a real fucking nuisance right now.
"It's like what?" I ask, playing ignorant.
"You like her, but she's interested in Twisted."
"I don't know that she's interested in Twisted," I say, inwardly groaning that I didn't argue the first part of his assumption.
He chuckles. "Maybe this place isn't going to be so boring after all."
Before I can argue, he walks away, beelining straight for the minibar on the far side of the room.
I don't know if the guy has a drinking problem or if he's trying to drown the disappointment of having lost his mark for a few hours and having to ask for help. Maybe he'll get to the point that he'll start asking ahead of his plans rather than waiting to ask for help after he's already floundering. He really needs to know that I'm as much a part of the team as any of the others, and when we work together, we can accomplish a lot more things.
Now that I'm no longer obligated to stand and chat with the newest Cerberus member, I make my way toward Morgan, my lips curling up into a smile when she grins as I approach.
"Hey," she says, and I do my best not to let my mind hear the word as sultry as my ears insist it was.
"Hey," I say, feeling like a teen boy attempting to build enough courage to ask his crush to a school dance.
I barely fight and win against the urge to look at the floor and shift my weight from one foot to the other.
"You ready for that game of darts?"