Agent M4: Riordan Read Online Free PDF Page B

out Naylor. I set up on the roof, waiting for him to arrive. Once he showed up, the bastard actually got into a fist fight with his own son.”
    Riordan shook his head, apparently deep in memories. “When I got a clear shot, I took it.” He stared at his hands again. “I knew I’d hit my mark. My new hands were steady.” He stopped to look at her. “I could’ve made him suffer, Meeks, but I didn’t. I went for the head shot, more to put Dar out of his misery than to give Naylor a quick, easy death.”
    Anguish and self-admonishment thickened his voice. Riordan had killed Robert Naylor but his death hadn’t given him the satisfaction he’d sought.
    “How did you feel afterwards?”
    He glared at her. “I was pissed off.”
    “Why?”
    His brows lifted high on his forehead. “ Why ? I’d just taken a life. How did you expect me to feel?”
    She softened her voice. “Let me put it this way. How did you expect to feel?”
    He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know. Satisfied, maybe?”
    “And were you?”
    His solemn blue gaze roamed over her face. “No.”
    He’d been honest with her.
    She spoke the next words with care as her gaze gauged his reaction. “Do you think, maybe, you wanted answers more than revenge?”
    He started shaking his head before she finished her question. “No, Natalie. I had to get back at him. It’s all I’d thought about for three, freaking years.”
    “And, you did. He’s dead. But, obviously, it didn’t make you feel any better.”
    Hands on hips, he turned to stare at her dead-on. “I’ll never feel better again, Natalie. He took that away from me. But, I brought relief to his kids and the others that he’d hurt like me, and I did help save Dar’s life. It wasn’t a totally selfish act.”
    A good man, acting like a bad one. That’s the life he’d lived.
    Riordan had waged an internal struggle of right and wrong, his moral code telling him murder was wrong, his pride and self-worth shoving him toward revenge. She firmly believed that if Naylor hadn’t been a danger to the others, he wouldn’t have pulled the trigger. His own suffering wouldn’t have been enough to justify it.
    As for feeling better, Natalie knew no one that deserved happiness or contentment more. He may come off as an outspoken hard ass, but inside, Riordan carried more integrity and gallantry than anyone she knew.
    Apparently, Cassandra Naylor saw that.
    “So, Naylor had a physical fight with his own son yet, he cared for his daughter so much that he imprisoned a man he didn’t approve of?” Tilting her head, she pursed her lips. “Was she a daddy’s girl?”
    He barked out a laugh. “Hardly. Naylor didn’t give a shit about Cassandra or d’Artagnan. He’d raised them under an iron fist and emotional abuse.”
    Natalie frowned to herself. “Something doesn’t add up, Riordan. If he didn’t care about his children, Cassandra in particular, why would he go to the trouble of getting rid of you?”
    #####
    That afternoon, Natalie strolled into her office and shut the door. Her father stood at the window, staring out at the traffic while he talked on the phone. His hand rubbed the white hair at the back of his head, his narrow shoulders tense.
    “Yes, dammit. When I get back tonight, I’d better have some answers.”
    A feeling of apprehension swirled in her stomach. Dan Meeks didn’t let much ruffle him.
    Today, he sounded downright anxious.
    Standing in the middle of her office, Natalie cleared her throat. Her father whipped around. Worry shown in the creased brows and deep lines of his face. Pressing a button, he shoved his phone into his breast pocket.
    “Kitten, I want you to stay away from Riordan St. James.”
    Shutting her eyes, Natalie let out a sigh. After years of working for her father, Josie still felt the need to report to him. Never mind, doctor/patient confidentiality.
    It explained why she’d taken so long to retrieve a bottle of water.
    “Mitchell Jacobs asked