Sweet Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

carefully watched the man’s face. She’d known him for a few months and had only ever seen the compassionate side of the LCR leader. As she had explained her position, his expression had grown noticeably harder.
    Unwilling for him to think her plan was so self-serving, she said, “Revenge isn’t my only reason.”
    “But a large part. Correct?”
    “Do I want to punish the man who purchased me like a toy for his son’s entertainment? Of course I do. But Reddington’s done and will continue to do much worse things than what he did to me. He has to be stopped.” She gave a nonchalant shrug, not feeling nonchalant in the least. “Revenge is merely a by-product. The icing on the cake.”
    The black eyes narrowed and turned flinty, no doubt trying to pierce the thin veil of bravado she had going for her. Little did Noah realize that he could cut straight through her till he saw daylight and she wouldn’t change her mind. Yes, she was terrified, and yes, she knew she had a long road ahead of her, but that didn’t mean she was any less determined.
    “I still haven’t talked to the prosecutor’s office,” Noah said. “And I know Lucas has got a call in to them, too. There’re still avenues that haven’t been explored. Don’t give up hope that he can’t be—”
    She snorted softly. “Let’s not lie to each other, Noah. Reddington’s claim that he and his son found me in a ditch and nursed me back to health wouldn’t fly for most people. Stanford Reddington is not most people. He’s got so much power and influence in Spain, even if the charges did stick long enough to go to trial, there’s no way he’d ever be convicted.”
    The grim set of Noah’s mouth told her he wanted to argue with her, but she knew he couldn’t. Despite having the police there when she’d been rescued and even though two people, one of whom was her sister, had been shot, Reddington had finagled the telling of the story so well that, on the surface, he looked like a cross between a fairy godfather and the Good Samaritan. He’d only been trying to do the right thing, and look what it’d gotten him. Poor, misunderstood bastard.
    The things she’d heard while she was in that house of horrors had been amazingly detailed but, in the end, pointless for the prosecution. Her word against his. And Reddington’s held a hell of a lot more weight.
    The phone call she’d received yesterday, before the wedding, had confirmed what she’d long suspected was going to happen. “We’re so sorry, Ms. Kendrick. Without actual, physical proof, there’s nothing more we can do.”
    The man was not only going to get away with what he’d done to her, he was getting away with so much more—horrendous, vile things that had been going on for years. He had to be stopped. Despite the fear, the knowledge that she wasn’t trained for this, she had to be involved in bringing him to justice. There was no other option.
    “I can’t be the only person LCR has rescued who’s asked to work for you.”
    “Is that what you’re asking … to be an LCR operative?”
    Was it? She didn’t know. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Do you ever train people to be operatives and then, if they decide it’s not for them, let them go?”
    Though he didn’t smile, she saw a spark of amusement in his expression. “Working for LCR isn’t a prison sentence, Jamie. I’ve had a couple of people who chose different paths after a year or so. And several of our operatives came from successful rescues.” All amusement gone, he leaned forward. “What I do insist is that my operatives are focused solely on the well-being of others, not their own agenda. Rescuing will always be our primary reason to exist.”
    “But in this case, there are people to be rescued.”
    “Then we can find them, without your help.”
    She raised her chin determinedly. “I want to be involved.”
    “Having an operative go after their abuser or abductor is asking for trouble. Personal