Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Permanently.”
“Hmm… so if we agree to be yours, we get a spanking? Interesting form of bribery,” Marcus mused.
“Marcus,” Cullen growled. “Get your butt over here to get my phone, then get the hell out of here.”
“Do not speak to him like that,” Eliot snapped.
“Whoa,” Marcus said.
“And he is not coming over here,” Eliot added. “I’ll call them. Hold him.”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that.”
“Let me go.” Mr. Fenton spat at Eliot. It landed on his face with a plop.
Gross.
“Fucking assholes! I’ll have you arrested for this!”
“Us?” Eliot laughed as he wiped the spit off. “You’re the one who dared to touch my girl. You’re lucky I’m not fucking castrating you.”
“He touched Marcus too!” she said. “Pushed him down.”
Eliot’s face went even darker.
Damn. This side of him… so hot.
“I think I just came a little,” Marcus murmured.
“Me too,” she replied.
“Slut! Whore!” Mr. Fenton screamed, staring at her with hatred in his face. “This is all your fucking fault! You were meant to be mine!”
“What-what are you talking about? I barely know you!”
“Hey, watch your mouth. That’s my girl you’re talking about.” Eliot scowled down at her building manager.
“Did you give a copy of her apartment key to that guy who robbed her?” Marcus asked.
“Yes!” Mr. Fenton roared.
“What? Why?” she whispered.
“Because then you were supposed to come to me! I would have protected you.”
“Protected against the guy you set on her,” Marcus sneered. “Nice.”
“You’re meant to be mine. Mine! Mine! Mine!”
“Not yours!” Eliot yelled. “You dared to touch what belonged to me. I know how to dispose of a body that will leave no trace. So you better fucking lie there and shut up!”
They should probably protest him calling them his, but then, he wasn’t lying.
They were his. They’d always be his.
“I’ve called the cops!” Someone yelled from the hallway. “They’ll be here any minute.”
She glanced over to see her next-door neighbor standing there, peering in.
“Hi, Mrs. Smith!” she waved at her.
“I’m not joking with you two,” Eliot said. “Get downstairs. Now!”
“I think he means business,” she said to Marcus.
“Yeah. He’s got his Daddy face on. We better go before our butts are toast.”
She had a feeling it was already too late.
Marcus stood in the middle of Isla’s living room. It was still a mess.
“I think we should donate everything,” she said tiredly.
“You sure?”
She was wrapped around him, and he felt her tremble.
“I’m sure.”
“You want to sit down, sweetie? You’re trembling.”
“I don’t know what he’s touched.”
Yuck. True.
“Do you think he really means it?” she asked as they stared at Eliot, who was still talking to one of the cops.
Mr. Fenton had already been taken away by the police, protesting that he was the one who’d been wronged.
Asshole.
They’d all told the cops what he said about giving Isla’s apartment keys to the guy who had stolen her stuff.
“I don’t think Eliot says things he doesn’t mean.”
Eliot was here… he said he wanted them. But there was this doubt in the back of his mind.
What had changed? Why now and not before?
And would he push them away again if it got too hard?
It wasn’t fair to Eliot. He had never lied to them. Or promised them anything.
Fuck this was hard.
The officer left and Eliot turned to them. Cullen had disappeared to make a call to someone, so they were on their own.
Eliot moved forward, his face filled with a mix of hunger, pain, and longing. He stopped in front of them. “Marcus. Isla. I’m so sorry. I’m so damn sorry.”
“For what?” Marcus whispered.
“For leaving you. Or, I guess, letting you leave without telling you how I both felt about you. For being scared. It’s hard for me to let anyone close.”
“We understand.” She stepped forward. “Losing your wife… I can’t even imagine the pain of that. And then I got sick. And I called you Daddy. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I messed everything up. Like usual. Can’t do anything right.”
Eliot glared down at Isla.
That did not just come from her mouth.
Marcus turned to her as well, frowning. “We talked about this. This wasn’t your fault.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Eliot growled.
He watched her gulp.
“What happened was no one’s fault,” Marcus said quietly. “We all knew the terms going in… it’s just that feelings got involved. They make things messy.”
Isla leaned against Marcus, and he wrapped his arm around her. They were both so beautiful. So sweet. They also looked completely drained. There were dark smudges under their eyes, and he thought they looked thinner.
Shit. This is what he’d done to them.
Marcus was wrong. There was someone to blame. Him.
“Hey, do you guys want to head home with me?” Cullen asked.
“I have my car here,” Isla said. “I can drive us home.”
Yeah. Not happening.
“I don’t want either of you driving right now,” Eliot said firmly. “You both look exhausted.”
“Marcus isn’t allowed to drive anyway,” Cullen said.