Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Once she's awake, I'm sure any trust I earned with her will be long gone. Sanders undid a week's worth of progress in a matter of minutes. I find myself caring less about that than I do about her safety and well-being. If she never tells me a word about Tarasova and the Bratva, I'll live with it. But she won't spend another goddamn minute longer than necessary feeling afraid.
"I'm going to send one of our female patrol officers out here to sit with you while I take care of a few things," I murmur to Gunner. "I don't want you alone with her at any time." The last thing she needs right now is to be alone with a man she barely knows. If she wakes up before I get back, I want her to feel as secure as possible.
"I understand," he says, and I know he gets it.
I adjust my hold on her and shift out of the closet so I can lay her down on her pallet. I'd feel a hell of a lot better putting her in her bed instead of on the hard floor, but if this where she feels safest…well, that's what matters right now. Everything else will have to wait.
I find Roman going into an office a few doors down from Finn Bethel's. He pauses when he sees me stomping toward him, his phone to his ear and a stack of paperwork in his other hand. He mutters something to whoever he's talking to and then hangs up, waiting for me to reach him.
"We need to talk," I growl as soon as I'm in front of him.
Resignation flows through his expression. He's been working his ass off, trying to find the dirty DEA agent who kidnapped the wife of another agent. He's also been trying to stop the cartel war and do about eighteen other things. Ordinarily, I'd feel bad about dropping more work into his lap, but he needs to know. With Remi Pledger, a dirty DEA agent, still running free in the city, the last thing he needs is for another of his teammates to go rogue, and there is no telling what Sanders is capable of doing.
Roman unlocks the office with a sigh and hits the lights before motioning for me to go in.
I step inside and glance around. The only thing in the office is a desk with a computer on top and a chair. "Since when did you work out of an office?" I ask. The man hates being stuck behind a desk. He's worked undercover for most of his career, turning down a number of promotions along the way.
"Don't ask," he growls, scowling at the room like he wants to set it on fire. "What's going on?"
"I want Faith's detail pulled."
Roman cocks a brow at me, his surprise obvious. "What happened?" he asks, dropping his paperwork on the desk and then leaning up against the side of the thing. He crosses his arms, pinning me with a no bullshit look.
"You haven't heard?"
"I've been here for five minutes, motherfucker."
"Shit. I went to check in on her this morning and found her locked in her room. Apparently, Rick Sanders backed her into a corner in the middle of the night and tried to force himself on her," I say, giving him the cliff notes version. Even saying that much has my blood boiling all over again.
"Jesus fucking Christ."
"He wouldn't back off until Gunner heard her threatening to scream. When he walked in, Faith nailed Sanders in the balls and locked herself in her room."
"Son of a bitch." Anger swims through his blue eyes. "Is she okay?"
My teeth grind together at the question. She's not even remotely close to okay right now. "She'll be better when she knows she'll never have to see that motherfucker again," I say, unwilling to betray her secrets even to him.
"I'll take care of it," Roman promises, already fishing his cellphone out of his pocket. His fingers fly across the keys as he taps out a text…to Finn Bethel, I'm guessing.
Finn heads the gang taskforce here. He's about as tolerant of predators wearing the badge as Roman is. Between the two of them, Sanders will be dealt with quickly. Which is probably for the best because I don't trust myself to deal with him right now.
"I'll start looking for a replacement for him today."
"You think she's going to want some other guy up in her personal space right now?" I cross my arms and hit him with a hard glare. "We'll be lucky if he didn't undo any progress I've made with her." Not that I care about that right now, but still. If she ever learns to trust me again, it'll be a miracle.
"She's still not giving up anything on Nikolai Tarasova?"
I shake my head. I've been taking it slow with her, trying to give her time to get used to me before I bombard her with a thousand questions. I don't want to overwhelm her or give her a reason to compare me to Tarasova. I want her to see that I'm different. I hate the thought of her looking at me and seeing anything remotely resembling him.