Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Tom had told him how much the group missed him and wished him well. How the door was always open.
He needed that door open. He needed the light from it so he could find his way out of the dark hole he was in.
Tasha was looking at him, her eyes pooled with tears. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” Nate asked. “If it’s call his old club, he already did because Colin’s serious about his protocols. If he doesn’t have Master rights, he won’t be able to play, and that seems silly to go to all this trouble when you can’t even spank your own sub.”
Kara put a hand on his arm. “I think there’s more at play here.”
“Yes, like your father finding out.” Brian summed up the problem neatly. “He lost his shit the first time he found out you were in the lifestyle. What do you think he’ll do now?”
He’d weighed the risk and taken it. “I don’t think Tom will talk. He’s very discreet. My father found out the first time because he set a PI on me. I doubt he’s got Tom’s cell bugged. Nate is going to be watching to see if anyone is following us. So we can go to The Station and have a great night.”
Tasha pushed her chair back and walked around the table, settling herself on his lap. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and turned her face up to his. “Thank you, Sir.”
His fucking heart squeezed. Any anxiety he’d had playing in the back of his head flew away the minute he saw that look on her face. He would do anything for her. “You’re welcome, love.”
“Owww.” Brian stared at Kara.
“You were making a face, and my cousin is having a beautiful moment with the man of her dreams, and you will not make a face, Brian,” Kara declared.
“I’m not making any faces.” Nate had his head down, concentrating on his food.
Man of her dreams. More like nightmares, but she was settling in and he didn’t care. She was soft and sweet and in his arms.
She was worth the risk.
The way she talked about her dad… He’d been thinking about it for days. She talked about her dad like he was larger than life and able to handle any problem that came his way. According to her, her parents were the kind of people who helped others.
Would they help a man who loved their daughter?
Or would he be ruining them, too?
“Hey, don’t leave me,” she whispered as Brian and Kara began to argue about why Brian wasn’t allowed to go to the club.
He shook off the feeling and brushed his lips with hers. “Never.”
But wasn’t that a lie? He was starting to think it wasn’t. He was starting to think she might be worth risking everything for.
He picked up a strawberry and put it to her lips and let things be for the moment.
Chapter Ten
Tasha stared up at the big man blocking the doorway. The restaurant seemed lovely and inviting when they’d walked through the main dining room. However, the mood had changed as they’d been led to the more private areas of the building. The long hallway was paneled with dark, rich-looking wood and antique mirrors and lighting. Oakley’s big bodyguard stood in front of the door to the private dining room, his eyes covered in sunglasses even in the low light of the hallway.
She had to wonder if they were there so he would look cool or to cover a rough night, or if they were like Lou’s and were sending back all kinds of data to someone sitting close by. If anyone could afford some high-tech toys, it was Auggie Oakley.
Precisely why she wasn’t wearing any.
She had to go in completely naked. Well, naked when it came to weapons and a way to talk to her team. This big, rough-looking guy didn’t seem to want to take her word for it though.
“You are not going to pat her down,” Dare said in a deep tone, stepping in front of her.
The alpha male she knew lurked deep inside her man was making an appearance today. Dare wasn’t one of those cavemen who talked about owning a woman. She was his partner, not his possession, but he took care of her, too. He was pretty much her perfect man.
And she was going to lose him if she didn’t tell him the truth.
“No one gets close to the boss without being checked out,” the guard insisted.
Nate moved in front of Dare, and he had a good half foot on this guy. “Then maybe the boss doesn’t need anyone close. I thought we were friends, Jeffy. I gave you all the information you asked for. I assumed you would vet her. You really think she’s some kind of assassin?”
Oh, she could be quite a good one when she wanted to be, but only when it was totally necessary, and mostly she was assassin adjacent. She was excellent at handing her sisters snacks while they waited in a sniper position for some homicidal megalomaniac to show up so they could do their job.