Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“No,” Tamsin said. “I don’t want any of my family.” The only person she would want at her birthday party was supposedly dead, and she had to help him stay that way.
“Tamsin, your family does love you.”
She shook her head. “Don’t. You don’t know my family.”
“I think I do.”
She clenched her hands into fists. “You know who they are now. You don’t know who they were. You don’t know what they were capable of. If my family was willing for me to have a life and not use me, then yes, I would gladly invite them. Not this one. Not the family that had no choice but to let Landon die, and were willing to step aside for me to be married.”
Mason nodded. “So, how about just the two of us? You and me, celebrating your birthday.”
Tamsin thought about it. She liked the idea of dressing up. It wasn’t like she was giving in to anything. She had played the role of doting wife. All he was offering was a night for her birthday. A night where she could pretend.
Part of her wanted to say no. She wanted to remain cold, aloof, and stubborn. Another part of her wanted to give in so badly.
“I like that idea.”
Mason smiled at her, and not for the first time, she couldn’t help but admit how handsome he was.
****
Jacob put down the phone and sat back.
“Are you going to keep us all in suspense?” Abel asked.
“Tamsin doesn’t want us there,” Jacob said. He lifted his head and looked around the room. Only his brothers were present. Abel, Oliver, Gideon, Damon, and of course Gabriel.
Gabriel didn’t say a word, but the rest of his brothers knew they were hurting just as much as him. They had all messed up when it came to Tamsin, and in the last two years, they had paid the price.
She refused to be part of their family. Even though they had attempted to bargain for her to keep her name so she would remain a Denton, she had refused to take it. She had told him there was no part of her that was proud to be a Denton. To her, it was a filthy name and not one she ever wanted to be associated with again. Jacob couldn’t fault her. Their father’s bad dealings had put them in a compromising position. Paul Savonas had known of this, and had struck.
“What?” Gideon asked.
“You heard.” Jacob didn’t want to say the words again. They hurt too much. He’d never been close to Tamsin. He loved her. She was his little sister and he had done everything in his power to care for her. It hadn’t been enough.
When Mason brought her back, Jacob had been so overjoyed. Being a Denton had put a target on her head, but they all knew Paul Savonas was hunting for her.
She refused to stay at their home.
Even after their mother, Charlotte, had come home to help with the wedding plans, Tamsin had refused to have anything to do with her. Jacob had walked her down the aisle on the wedding day, and Tamsin tried to stay as far away from him as possible. She made it clear to him that as far as she was concerned, her family was dead to her.
He knew it had to do with Landon. She believed they had failed him, and it was the truth—they all had. Burying a brother, certainly one that was volatile and younger than him, hadn’t been easy. A part of him hoped it was all a ruse, that Landon had been able to find a way out of it, that he lived somewhere else and was enjoying his life. That he was finally free. He deserved it.
“How long is she going to keep this up?” Oliver asked.
“I think it’s time we all accept that when it comes to our sister, she is never going to forgive us,” Abel said.
“We failed her.”
“She’s not in Paul Savonas’s clutches,” Gideon said.
“Not that we know of.”
Jacob hated that Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder to offer him support. Gabriel was the same age as him. They were both heirs to the Denton throne. Gabriel refused to take his place, helping him, but instead offered to be his wingman. He would help him, and at times, Jacob was grateful for it. This wasn’t one of those times.
Gabriel Colton had been their enemy for a long time, until the truth of their father’s affair came to light. Gabriel was the consequence of his last relationship before he met Charlotte. It was why his own mother didn’t stick around. She was in Europe and enjoyed being as far away from all Denton life and responsibility as possible.
At times like this, he hated her and hated his parents. His hatred for his dead father was never going to change. Maddox had deserved his death.