Having It All by Kati Wilde Read Free Book Online Page A

out there, yeah?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Then get back out there.” I look to Red. “We’ll get eyes on the compound. They’re just not going to be on the ground.”
    • • •
    Blowback will be going up with Zoomie tomorrow night. She’ll fly, he’ll scope the place out. Easier than nabbing a Henchman—and less likely to go balls up. I’d rather it be earlier but it might be best this way. I pushed too hard today. I can deal with pain but my shoulder stiffened up. If I don’t get a full day of resting this arm I won’t be any good when the time comes to go after Reichmann.
    But I’m already damn sorry I took those painkillers before coming to the ranch house. I’m feeling almost drunk and didn’t put up much resistance when Jenny pushed me down onto her big bed and told me to stay put. But she’s not here with me. Instead she’s putting away the clothes that she picked up from my house. So I’m just lying here, my body heavy, watching her make room for me in her place. Though in truth, it’s an easy fit. I don’t have much and Jenny’s basically got the whole upstairs floor to herself. They’ve opened up and expanded the rooms, so she’s got a huge suite with big windows overlooking the orchard out back. Nothing girly, either. I’d have been fine with that if it was. But instead there’s lots of browns and golds and greens, like she took the colors from her hair and eyes and made a room of them.
    And I don’t think I was wrong. She’s distancing herself. Blaming herself. It’s subtle, but she doesn’t look at me as often as she usually does, and sometimes when she does she glances away quick. She’s moving stiffly, too, back and forth from the bench at the end of the bed to the closet big enough to be its own room, holding herself really careful so she doesn’t break.
    Seeing how this weighs on her hurts more than being shot does.
    “Zoomie said you asked her about pilots.”
    “I did.” She’s paying close attention to my jeans as she refolds a pair that were already folded. “I’m thinking of pushing the local angle. You know, hops from local fields, supporting the local farmer. That kind of thing. So I’ll get photos of some nearby farms.”
    “You rolling out any organic beer?”
    “No, but that would be smart. Eventually I will.”
    “I get asked all the time to put more organic stuff on the menu at the Den.”
    She shoots me a surprised look. “The Riders ask you for it?”
    Shit. Laughing hurts like a motherfucker. “Nah. The lunch crowd. Especially tourists.”
    Her smile comes and goes too quickly. She turns toward the closet again. God damn it.
    I get up and go after her, my feet bare and my arm stuck in a sling. Every muscle seems to weigh a ton. “You’re feeling guilty, aren’t you?”
    Her whole body freezes up. Her widened eyes shoot to my face. “What? No. Guilty about what?”
    “No? Then why are you running around here all skittish?” I know she’s not afraid of me . Which means she’s just afraid. “Am I gonna have to fuck the answer out of you?”
    Her jaw sets. “I hate it when you do that.”
    “But it works.” Because she never keeps distance between us when I touch her. But I don’t ever warn her that’s what I’m doing—and I’m not going to do it now. Her breath is already shuddering. I like it when she’s mad but right now she’s closer to crying. Gently I slip my free arm around her waist and bring her in against my chest. “You know what I’m thinking?”
    She’s hiding her face. Her hair tumbles over her shoulders when she silently shakes her head.
    “I’m remembering sitting in my cell and getting a letter from you. Just pages and pages of how sorry you were for getting mixed up at that rally and walking into the Eighty-Eight’s territory. Of how sorry you were that you couldn’t get away from Reichmann by yourself. On and on, because you were sorry for every step that landed me in jail—even those steps that you hadn’t