Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Not the time.
“Coffee?” he asked, holding up one of the clean mugs.
“Yes, please.”
Devlin poured him some fresh coffee and placed the mug on the table situated in the far corner of the kitchen. He’d already put some sugar and creamer there. Devlin hesitated while Kai sat and started to fix his coffee to his liking. Everything about him was always so quiet. He didn’t make a sound when he moved, barely spoke, and when he did the words were rarely more than a whisper.
“Breakfast?” Devlin inwardly winced. He needed to start forming complete sentences and thoughts or Kai was going to take him for a complete idiot. “I was thinking of making breakfast. Are you hungry?”
“I am.”
“Excellent!” Devlin nearly groaned at his unending awkwardness. “Well, it’s not excellent that you’re hungry. Just excellent that I can feed you.”
A small smile formed on Kai’s lips, and Devlin’s heart skipped a beat. The assassin was sexy when he was serious, but damn, he was absolutely adorable when he smiled. “Am I making you nervous? You know I would never hurt you.”
“What? Nervous?” He forced a laugh that sounded incredibly nervous and quickly hurried over to the fridge. It was easier talking to the contents of the refrigerator than to Kai. “I’m not nervous at all. Just still trying to wrap my brain around this unexpected craziness. That’s all. Eggs? Do you like eggs? Or maybe French toast.”
“Scrambled eggs and maybe a bit of toast. If it’s not too much trouble.”
“No, not at all. That sounds great.” Devlin started grabbing what he needed, some part of his brain grateful that Kai had suggested something so simple. His brain was clearly not up for more complicated things.
“Would you mind if we talked while you cooked?”
“No, of course not.” He suspected Kai didn’t want to just shoot the breeze with him, though. The assassin wanted to know about the body. Not that he blamed him. Kai probably had an incredibly busy, exciting life. Hanging out in Devlin’s kitchen wasn’t going to make the highlight reel anytime soon.
“Can you tell me about yesterday? From the very beginning until you called Justin and Gabriel.”
Devlin could do that and cook at the same time. He’d told this story to so many people at this point that he had it down pat. But it allowed him to easily talk and make the eggs without worrying about burning anything. The day had certainly been normal enough to start. Jake was usually slow to move in the morning, but yesterday he’d been up early with all his stuff piled by the front door, excited to start his two-week adventure at camp. He had two other friends attending the same camp, which helped. There was a hasty breakfast, a check for any last-minute things Jake might have forgotten, and the hour-long drive to the drop-off spot. Once there, it was a bit of controlled chaos of kids running around, parents sipping coffee while chatting in groups, check-in, more instructions, more coffee, and finally the kids were loaded on the buses. And Devlin was alone.
An hour later, he was walking into the bathroom and discovering a dead body.
“So, you were out of the house for two hours?” Kai confirmed.
Devlin nodded. He walked over and placed some butter and jam on the table, then turned to the stove. “Well, probably closer to three once you count the drop-off and all the other stuff.”
“Did you see anyone watching you that you might never have seen before? Either on this block or around town? Or maybe have you noticed any new faces in your neighborhood over the past several days?”
He hesitated for a moment, searching his brain, but in the end, he shook his head. “No, I haven’t. As you know, it’s a quiet street. Lots of old trees to block your view of the other houses. You have to be right in front of the house to get a clear view of it.” Kai sort of winced and dropped his gaze to the table. Devlin replayed what he said and mentally cursed himself. He’d made it sound like he was referring to the times that Kai had talked to Jake but not him. “Not much has changed in the past year since Liam Monroe tried to kill me. Still quiet.”
Devlin finished plating the eggs and brought them over along with the toast. It wasn’t much, but he guessed that Kai preferred lighter meals. They ate together comfortably with Devlin talking about the cops and how they hadn’t believed him until they’d spotted the blood. There was the search of the house, detectives, coroner, more cops, pictures, and all the neighbors coming out to stare and point at his house.
“After they left, you called Justin and Gabriel?”
Devlin nodded and then took a sip of his coffee. “They believed me, though they thought the whole thing was insane. I still think it’s insane. I swear, I’ve never seen that guy before. I don’t know what any of this has to do with me.”