Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
While Sloane was having a hard time simply letting her sister go, she wasn’t sure she had any kind of choice in the matter anymore. The hard, cold fact was, the only person who could help Sadie was Sadie herself. Sloane would be there for her sister if she ever got to that point, but that was all she could do.
A heartbreaking reality.
However, instead of telling him what she really wanted from him, she said, “I want you to stop babying me. I’m fine. I’ll be good as new soon enough. I’m sure you’ll be relieved to have your bed to yourself again when that happens.”
His jaw shifted as his chest rose and fell slowly. His bare jaw. Since he could no longer be undercover with the Demons, he had cut his hair and shaved off the messy beard to expose his very handsome face and chiseled jawline.
It was amazing how just a smooth face and buzzed hair transformed him from a rough biker back into a squared-away cop.
He was also back to working out every day. He’d drop Val off at preschool, then go straight to the gym to work off the excess weight he’d put on.
His eyes landed on her laptop. “How much more do you have to do yet?”
“I have a few more emails to answer and a brief to proofread but it can wait, if necessary.”
He blew out a soft breath. “Yeah. I need a few minutes of your time, if it can hold off.”
Her heart began to thump a little faster since he was trying to hide the uncertainty in both his voice and his expression, but was failing. He could no longer hide behind that bushy facial hair.
“It’s nothing urgent. Give me two seconds to finish sending this email.” She quickly scanned what she wrote looking for any mistakes, then with a click of a key, sent it off into cyberspace. She shut the laptop and set it aside to give him her full attention. “Did you check on Finn?”
“Yeah, he’s going a little stir crazy in the laundry room, but the vet still doesn’t want him running around with that cracked rib or the cast on his leg.”
The poor, brave cat. He was so unhappy being confined, even if it was for his own good. “I often hear him in there crying the blues. Especially when Val’s at school.”
“If he’s bothering you, I can move him to the other side of the house since he has a lot to say.”
“I’m assuming you do, too, and that’s why you’re asking me if I’m finished with my work.”
He sank down on the edge of the bed and stared past her for a few seconds before announcing, “We need to make a plan, Sloane.”
She had been expecting this conversation, only she didn’t know when it would happen. Today apparently was that day. “You want me out of your house and bed.”
His head twitched and something flashed behind his deep brown eyes, but it was there and gone in an instant. “That’s not what I said.”
“I get it. You did what you said you would. You found Sadie. That means our arrangement is over. I don’t expect you to hunt her down again. Just because it didn’t end the way I’d hoped, you’ve still fulfilled your part of the agreement.”
Crew managed to see the video footage of Sadie sneaking out of Good Samaritan while only wearing a hospital gown and then getting into a sedan parked at the curb.
Probably the same sedan from which Sloane escaped.
She pushed that depressing thought aside. For now. “Okay, then, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Everything.” He muttered, “Fuck.”
She didn’t like the way this was going. “Decker…”
She knew the time had come for her to leave but she really didn’t want to. She never felt a part of a family more than Decker’s. All because of his mom, Val and him. Hell, even Finn the Feline.
Then there were his “brothers.” The men who surrounded and supported each other. His extended family.
Family is family, whether by blood or by bond.
“You leaving is the matter.”
She blinked as his words sunk in. “That was our deal and our deal is done.”
“It’s not done, Sloane.”
She considered him for a few pounding heartbeats. “You’re not required to search for Sadie anymore, so yes it is. And even though we’ve both fulfilled our side of the bargain, there’s nothing stopping us from remaining friends, Owen. We made a connection that—”
“Fuck that.”
Fuck what? Did he not think they had a connection? “You don’t want to remain friends?”
“Fuck no.”
“Okay... I just thought… I don’t want you to feel obligated to allow me to stay here. Again, you did what—”
“Obligated?” he ground out. “If I didn’t want you here, I would be helping you pack.”
“Well… I…”
His tone softened. “If you leave, Val will miss you.”