Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
He nodded, not asking what that was, and I was grateful because I didn’t want to lie to him.
“Can I ask you a question?”
His eyebrows rose. “Sure.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
His eyebrows went higher.
“I’m not asking for me.” My grin was easy. “I’m just wondering how that part of your life fits with everything else.”
“Oh.” He settled back against our bench, mulling it over. “It doesn’t. I mean, there are questions, but we learn to lie. Every Bennett is born an amazing liar. We’ve had to become that just to function sometimes. As far as a girlfriend…” He paused, his cheeks becoming pink.
I sat up. I’d thought I was fishing in an empty barrel here.
“There is a girl.”
“A girl?”
“She’s another resident.”
“Resident?”
“Ah.” He laughed shortly. “A doctor. She’s in my year. We work at the same hospital.”
“How do you do that, by the way? What with the constantly leaving for family things.”
He rubbed at his eyebrow. “To be honest, Kai rarely calls on me. This whole thing with Brooke threw all of us for a loop. We were scrambling. Then he brought you in, and I knew what Brooke had done wasn’t the normal little tirade she sometimes throws. It was more serious.”
“You didn’t answer the first question, though.”
“Oh. Yes. Uh, I’m in trouble, to be honest.” He bobbed his head forward in an easy, smooth motion. “But having my last name as Bennett helps. Kai will just step in, grease some wheels, and I should be fine.”
Why wasn’t I surprised? “That’s how it’s done? He bribes your way through medical school?”
He frowned. “Yeah. It’s part of our world. If I want to have some semblance of a normal life, I have to accept that.” His frown deepened. “I’m just grateful to have this time to become a doctor. This never would’ve happened if my father were still alive.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sent Brooke away. He killed Cord. He would’ve killed Kai too. Who knows what he would’ve let Tanner and me do, or get away with. He didn’t even let me live with the family.”
“What?” My heart twisted.
“I was sent to live with an aunt. He didn’t want me around the rest of them. I got to see them on holidays or if Cord or Kai insisted they visit me.”
The pain in my chest doubled.
He shrugged and swallowed tightly. “It is what it is. I look different. He treated me differently.”
“I’m sorry.”
He coughed, shifting in his seat. “Kai changed everything. He brought Brooke and me back…but yeah, to answer your initial question, we compartmentalize.” He coughed again, blinking rapidly. He flicked a hand to the corner of his eye. “Brooke falls in love every two months. Tanner doesn’t. I don’t know what he does. He rarely talks about women. And I…” He quieted, flashing me an uneasy smile.
I grinned back. “You have a girlfriend.”
“That I lie to every day.” His laugh was uneven, forced. “But that’s how it is. We lose our footing with the council, and we’ll all be wiped out.”
“What?!”
“You didn’t know? I thought Kai would’ve explained…” He trailed off again, frowning. “Sorry. I thought you knew.”
“No,” I gasped. “What do you mean you’ll be wiped out?”
“Um...” He hesitated.
“Tell me, Jonah.”
“We’re only at the top because they fear us. They fear Kai. If someone moves against us, they’ll have to kill us. All of us. It’s literally all for one, one for all with us.”
My head swam. I had no idea.
No wonder Kai was so concerned about who Brooke fell in love with.
“Thank you for telling me. I didn’t know.”
“About that…” He bit his bottom lip. “Can you not tell Kai you found out from me?”
I barked out a laugh, a little louder than I meant. “Yes. Of course. Yes.”
And then, because we hadn’t covered it, I asked, “What about Kai and his love life?”
The ride was coming to an end. Jonah reached for the top of the bench in front of us. “Kai has women in every city for his needs.” Then he stood and glanced at me. “I mean, that was before you. I think?” His grin turned lopsided, and he hopped off like his life depended on it.
I sat rooted to that bench.
Kai had a woman in every city? But of course. I cursed myself. How stupid was I? To think I was special? I’d been brought in because of his sister’s actions, not his.
It hadn’t been his choice. Though maybe that didn’t matter.
I stood on wooden legs and moved to where Jonah was waiting for me. The guards moved in behind me, and we were tourists for the rest of the day. But my spirit wasn’t in it anymore. The thought of Kai’s other women plagued me, sitting heavy on my shoulders. I only did one silly face in the photo booth.
I really threw myself into the movie at the theatre. And by throwing myself, I mean I sat in the darkness and pretended I was into it. Silently. Soullessly. Just imagining all those women at Kai’s beck and call.