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)
Alek heaved a sigh and then squared his shoulders. “You’re right, Harlow. I appreciate you coming and being my support system. All of you.”
“Of course, Alek,” Sam said. “These things are difficult. We’re not going to let you go through this alone. If you need help monetarily, let us do fundraisers for you. Stella is amazing at that. Zahra is the queen of fundraisers.”
“I don’t like taking charity.”
“How many times have you helped out when it was needed?” Shabina demanded. “I’ll tell you how many. Every single time. Every time, Alek. You have always been one of the first to support everything from Little League to Search and Rescue to the hospital fundraisers. I could name any number of recent or past events that you helped with immediately. The community likes to give back occasionally. That helps keep a balance.”
Alek smiled and then burst out laughing. “How can I possibly argue with that?”
Chapter Fifteen
Harlow should have known her parents would want a very public meeting the first time they came to demand she help them. They wouldn’t come in the middle of the night and try to persuade her to allow them to hide on her property. They didn’t want to hide. They had no intention of sneaking around. The senator wanted to make a huge scene. He wanted reporters covering his carefully concocted story. Coming to her home in the dead of night would not get him what he wanted.
Her mother and father arrived midmorning; entourage complete with his personal assistant, Grant Parody, who would do anything for Keith Frye. He probably knew exactly where the body of Oliva Dunstin was. Two reporters accompanied them as well. Harlow happened to know both of them—Serena Lords and Tilly Chantrelle—had slept with the senator on multiple occasions. They most likely did everything he said because if they didn’t, a video of them having sex would surface. It wouldn’t be a video with the senator; it would be one with Grant Parody. The senator was generous when it came to sharing women.
They didn’t go to her home or even her studio. That would have been too private. They went straight to the Sunrise Café, where she was having lunch with Zahra and Shabina. The first warning was the sudden appearance of several of Rainier’s men. She recognized Larado, Falcon and Torin, all men who took turns watching over her house while Wilder resided there. They came straight to the back table where she was seated and did what she always referred to as “their thing”; spreading out, back to her, standing in front of her to block sight of her. Their bodies were solid and muscular. Standing there, they made it clear that anyone trying to get into the back room would have to go through them.
Harlow rose and moved behind the table, where she could manage to peek between the wide shoulders of her security detail. She knew it was for her, and instinctively, she knew why. To her absolute horror, the next person striding through the café was Hawkin Wilder. In the open. People and cameras everywhere.
She had no idea if Blom had sent agents to Knightly to look for Wilder, but if he had, Wilder was completely exposed. She took a step toward the table and gripped the edge, waiting for him to move past the three men guarding the private area where she had been having lunch.
He came straight to her, reaching for her, pulling her into his arms, tight against his body.
“It’s the senator, isn’t it?” she greeted. “He’s here.”
“He’s on his way. We intercepted calls between him and Paul Rafferty. The senator wanted a public confrontation, believing you wouldn’t dare turn him away. Rafferty was all too happy to help him. In fact, the good sheriff is sitting in the café at the front entrance waiting for the show.”
Harlow shook her head. “I knew he would do something like this. I just knew it.”
“Don’t look so scared, mon rêve. The senator won’t get anywhere close to you. The cameras have no chance of catching even a glimpse of you.”
She curled her fingers into his shirt, making tight fists. “I’m not afraid for me. You’re exposing yourself to Blom. You can’t do that. He’s hunting you. Or a better way to put it is he has people hunting you. They already came close to killing you. You shouldn’t be here.”
He caught her chin and tilted her head up so she was forced to meet his eyes. Her heart stuttered. His face was soft, his eyes showing, without reservation, his feelings for her. It was right there, out in the open, raw, unmistakable and so very blatant. Absolutely beautiful.
“This is exactly where I’m supposed to be, Harlow. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“Blom is going to know where you are,” she reminded again, afraid her heart was in her eyes, just as his was. He was risking everything for her and clearly had not one regret. She’d never, not once in her life, had another human being look at her like Wilder was. Not even her mother.