Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
He’s leaving. I know it before he even says anything.
“Emergency?”
Conrad sighs and nods. He’s doing his best to appear calm, but his eyes track back and forth as he pulls up his pants and buttons them over his hard-on.
“Apparently…my men caught the guy who made the bomb threat.”
My heart sinks, tears beginning to well up in my eyes. This threat was the only thing postponing the wedding. Without the threat, the wedding is back on, and my lifelong future with Fitch is about to begin.
“Do you have to go?”
“What?” Conrad asks, looking confused. He looks at me, then shakes his head. “Yes, I have to go. But you’re coming with me.”
“I am?” I’m fighting back tears now.
“Of course you are, angel,” he says, reaching out to lift me up from the bed. “It’s my duty to look after you, remember? I’m never leaving you alone again.”
5
CONRAD
This is bad. I can’t do my job with Belle draining every ounce of mental energy I have. I was so close to finally having her, and to be ripped away from her just like that–it’s all I can do to act like I’m even paying attention to what my men are saying now.
Three of them have surrounded a twitchy blond guy they’ve tied to a dining room chair. My heart pounds loudly in my ears, deafening me to every other sound in the room. It’s warm inside, but my hands and feet are cold, despite the perspiration on my forehead.
I’m compromised. Failing in my duties.
This never would have happened before. But then I met Belle.
One of my men steps up beside me and calls my name into my ear, causing me to snap out of my stupor. I shoot a glance at him that he must interpret as threatening, because he quickly takes a step back.
“You okay, boss?”
Shit. I’ve got to get my head right. “I’m fine. I was just…thinking about something.” I level my eyes on the suspect. He’s shaking like he’s freezing his ass off, but that’s impossible in here. It’s possible he’s strung out on something. “Hey, buddy! You wanna talk now? Or do we have to call the police?”
Calling the police is the last thing I want to do. That would mean more people getting involved and potentially more eyes on me. What’s this jerk doing taking credit for my bomb threat anyway? I called it in, not him. How’s he even know about it?
I glance over my shoulder where Belle is standing by the bookshelves, drenching the room in beauty. It’s like being hit by a gut-punch. All I want to do is stare. I’m already losing myself as my eyes soak in her splendor.
Now is not the time for that.
Now is the time for work.
“See her?” I snap, pointing as I glance back at the suspect. “How do you know her?”
The man snaps his teeth against each other, tosses his head, and flits a few short glances toward Belle. My protective instincts flare. Even if he is tied down, he’s still a potential threat to my angel.
“B-Belle…Ha-Ha-Hartley…” the man stutters, slurring his speech with a sloppy tongue. “Married…soon.”
He looks up at her again, and I step in front of him, blocking his gaze.
No. She’s my beauty.
Christ, who even is this son of a bitch? I know he didn’t call in the bomb threat, yet he’s acting like a total weirdo, and he somehow knows Belle’s full name. Could he be a stalker who actually means to hurt her?
Does it make me a hypocrite to be worried about someone stalking Belle?
Probably. But I don’t care.
I know with an absolute certainty that I would never do anything to hurt my sweet angel. I exist only to keep her safe and to protect her. No man out there would put his life on the line for her like I would, and that means every other man out could be a danger to her.
“Where’s the phone!?” one of my guys blurts out. I quickly scold him with a look, causing him to go silent.
“You got a name, buddy?” I ask the suspect, drawing his attention to me. His eyes are all over the place, but after a long moment, he nods.
“B-Barry.”
“Okay, Barry. Why’d you make that call?”
Barry shakes his head like it’s filled with cobwebs. Goddamn it, what is this guy’s game? “I-I just wanted her to…notice me…”
One of my men comes up beside me and hands me a file. I glance over it quickly and close it. “You work the grounds here at the manor eh, Barry?”
He nods, testing my patience as he continues to draw out this fiasco. I need to wrap things up here so I can get back to Belle before she slips away from me. Every second I waste on this bastard is a second I could be spending with her.