Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
“Where’s Shabina?” she asked. She looked around the café.
Shabina was gorgeous. Her mother was from Saudi Arabia, and her father, from Houston, was legendary for putting out oil fires around the world. Shabina had inherited her silky skin and gorgeous eyes from her mother. She wore her thick black hair in a long braid she normally wrapped in some intricate knot.
“In the kitchen at the moment,” Stella answered. She sighed and pushed her hands through her unique platinum-colored hair, something she’d inherited from her Finnish grandparents along with her crystal-blue eyes. “I swear that woman never stops working. She works as hard as or harder than her employees.”
It was the truth. Shabina loved the café, and she had turned it into a major success. She was an amazing chef. The café had a reputation far and wide. Shabina wasn’t sitting with them because she ran her café and did most of the cooking as well as waiting tables when needed.
Rainier told her nearly everything. He only kept her in the dark when he was going on a mission. Even then, if she asked, he would probably tell her whatever she wanted to know. Rainier might be the most intimidating man Harlow had ever met, but he wasn’t that way with Shabina. He couldn’t even look at her without his eyes softening to a look of absolute love.
Harlow wanted someone to love her the way Rainier loved Shabina. She didn’t believe it was possible. If by some miracle someone fell that deeply in love with her, she wouldn’t know what to do. Her parents certainly weren’t a blueprint for a successful relationship. Still, she dreamt, or fantasized, especially when Hawkin Wilder was around. She had no idea why he appealed to her, but she was seriously obsessed with him. She couldn’t see other men—only Wilder. She recognized how unhealthy her fantasies about him were, but she gave herself permission to have them; after all, he was rarely around. He worked in the Special Activities Division of the CIA and was very close friends with Rainier, Sam and Zale.
Raine O’Mallory sat in her usual chair at the end of the table. She was never without her laptop. She had a walking cane hooked to the table and relied on it far more than she wanted any of them to know. Raine had been shot and nearly lost her leg when a casino owner had hired men to kill Vienna. Harlow knew she was still fighting to come back from the horrific injury. She had metal rods, pins, and plates in her leg, and more than once infection had set in. Raine had been an incredible athlete. She had done physical therapy for over a year, and she’d really applied herself, maybe a little too much. She could walk with a cane, but she wasn’t climbing, one of her greatest loves, and that told Harlow a lot about the injury.
Harlow admired the fact that Raine insisted on her independence and lived in her home with her Jack Russell terrier, Daisy. Raine had lived a life of extremes, traveling around the world, hiking everything from the John Muir Trail to the Alps. She parasailed and went into ice caves. And she did it solo. There wasn’t much in the way of adventures that she hadn’t tried.
She was incredibly brilliant and worked as an analyst. It was clear to Harlow and the rest of her friends that Raine’s job was very important to the government, and she had an extremely high clearance. Many times, a helicopter had been sent for her, and she would be gone for days or even weeks. She took Daisy with her, and no one ever seemed to object. In fact, when Raine asked for something, she was given it immediately.
Lately, Harlow had been concerned for her. Raine seemed very tired and withdrawn. Because she was in the medical field and very astute when it came to her patients, Harlow had observed that Raine’s leg was still painful. That had to be worrisome to Raine.
“Everything all right?” Vienna greeted her. Vienna was engaged to Zale Vizzini, a man working in the same field Rainier and Sam had been in.
Did it show that she was stressed? Harlow was a woman used to not showing her emotions. She’d grown up in a political family right in front of the press. She was a surgical and trauma nurse. She was definitely slipping if Vienna could see she was uneasy.
Harlow shrugged, trying to appear casual. “The senator just won’t stay out of the headlines. He’s so certain he’s powerful enough to get out of the charges and remain in office. As you and the rest of the world know, he’s under investigation for the disappearance of an underage girl.”
“I’m so sorry, Harlow,” Raine said. “This must be so difficult for you.”