Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
He let his hand find her knee, running up her skirt, but careful to keep the motion slow and hidden.
“I’m sending a full dossier to each of you,” Tasha said. “But it’s not anything that will set the world on fire. It’s a fairly typical crime story. He’s from a lower-class background. Mom died, and Dad abandoned him. In and out of prison in his youth. There are a couple of Italian mafia groups that work in Germany, and he became associated with them.”
“From what we can tell, he moved from running drugs to guns, and when his mentor died, he moved in to lead the operation. The Italians actually took down most of the family he worked for a few years back, leaving something of a power vacuum that Friedrich was happy to fill,” Big Tag continued. “So the question is why do they want TJ? All I got out of the guard is that he wants to go home and something about another arms dealer the boss wants information on.”
“He’s called The Jester,” TJ murmured, staring at the way Lou’s neck curved into graceful shoulders. How had he never simply spent hours staring at her? He’d watched every movie she’d ever asked him to when he could have been watching her. “From what I can tell, he’s a new presence in the arms world, and our friend either didn’t like the competition or he wants to hire the fucker.”
“Yes, that is the name the guard used. The Jester. Dumbass,” his uncle agreed.
His dad cocked a brow his uncle’s way. “Really? It’s better than The Broker?”
Oooo, he was glad his Aunt Charlotte wasn’t here. She’d gone by The Broker when she’d been the world’s premier information collector. She and her sister, Chelsea, had ruled that world for several years.
“Nah, The Broker was brilliant. It’s self-explanatory,” his uncle countered. “You know exactly who you’re dealing with when they introduce themselves as The Broker. And it’s sexy. What is The Jester supposed to mean? Does he think he’s funny or something? Is he like trying to be The Joker but didn’t want to deal with copyright infringement?”
His mom was saying something snarky and the others were watching the byplay of the older generation, and that meant he could move a little more. He got his palm between her thighs. Warm skin. Soft skin. He’d spread her wide the first time, but now he wondered what it would feel like if she’d wrapped her legs around his neck and been surrounded by the soft core of her sex.
“Lou, next time find someone with more information, please.”
Lou shook her head like she wasn’t quite following the conversation. “What?”
His uncle had been the one who’d dragged her attention away. His uncle’s eyes narrowed as though he knew something was going on but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “I said the guard was low level. He didn’t have much information. I got everything out of him I could, but next time, find me someone higher up. The dude who’s guarding shit usually doesn’t know much.”
“Well, it’s not like I had a lot of choices. He was the only person I saw on my way out,” Lou replied, wriggling slightly. Yeah, that felt good. “And honestly, that was beyond the parameters of my mission. I was supposed to get TJ out. I did. Why didn’t you ask Kala to chase down the CEO of this organized crime thingee?”
She was so cute when she was flustered, and there was zero doubt that she was flustered. It was there in the breathy quality of her voice and the way her chest hitched as his hand climbed up her thigh. And the fact that she’d used the word thingee. Lou tended to be precise. She was a smarty pants of the highest order.
He was the dude who wanted to get into her smarty pants, and suddenly that seemed like enough. He spent his whole life backing other people up. Why couldn’t he back up the person he loved most of all?
He’d spent all this time thinking he was a grunt and not worthy of her, but didn’t the smarty pants of the world need comfort too? Didn’t they need someone who took care of them and gave them the affection they clearly deserved? What would another smarty pants do right now? Probably spend his time paying attention and trying to look…smart. That’s what they did. When he thought about it, another smarty pants would actually clash with what Lou needed.
He was almost to the apex of her thighs when she put a hand on his arm.
Damn it. So close.
She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes and then removed her hand.
When he let his fingers slip under the band of her panties, she spread her legs slightly.