Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 33998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“How do you feel about marriage?” I rasped. Ink choked and ended up jerking the wheel a little before righting the van again. I chuckled.
She snorted. “It’s the middle of the night, Whiler, which means I’m not fit to answer this kind of question. And I’m already married, remember? My husband is a psychopath.”
“If you managed to become unmarried,” I tried again, watching as my sister’s apparition began to fade, bringing tears to my eyes because I knew this was the end of her on Earth, “would you marry me?”
Cannon’s breath caught in her throat all while Helena smiled at me and blew me a kiss before disappearing. A ragged breath left my lips, and Ink glanced at me, blinking at the tears in my eyes before focusing back on the road. I continued staring at the same spot Helena was just sitting in.
“Yeah,” Cannon finally said softly, “I would, Whiler.”
I cleared my throat. “Really?” I croaked, not having expected that answer. Because in a lot of ways, I wasn’t much better than her asshole husband.
“Yeah,” she said again. “Really. Everything in me tells me you’re not him. You’re not Paul. I can trust you.”
“Damn right you can, baby. Always.” I glanced up when Ink began to slow down, turning onto a windey, sandy, dirt road. “I’ve got to go. But I’ll be home as soon as possible, you hear me? And then, I’m putting that fucking ring on your finger.”
“Not while I’m still married, Whiler. I won’t do that to you. It’s not fair.”
I grinned. “You won’t be married when I come home,” I promised. Then, before she could get another word in, I hung up the phone, dropping it back into the cupholder.
Ink glanced at me. “You saw her, didn’t you?” I frowned at him. “Helena,” he clarified.
I nodded, my throat thick with tears despite how happy I was that I would soon be calling Cannon my fiancée. “Yeah,” I rasped. “Pretty sure it was for the last time, too.”
He reached over and gently squeezed my forearm before putting both hands back on the wheel so he didn’t lose control of the van in a particularly sandy spot.
Ink pulled to a stop in front of an old, abandoned shack that was mostly taken over by trees and vines. Some of the boards that made up the walls had fallen and rotted away, the tin roof was collapsing, and a large, gaping hole sat in what was once the porch.
“How are we doing this?” I asked Joey as Vern jacked the Benz up so he could get underneath it.
“Cutting the brake lines,” Joey told me. I smirked. “And there will be a small leak from the gas tank. Simple match will get that line he leaves behind lit, and he’ll go up in flames. Nothing but a charred mess for the cops to find in the morning.”
I grinned, and Joey chuckled, shaking his head at me. “That’s what I’m fucking talking about. I just hope he loses control while he’s going stupid fast. That accident will be—” I made a gesture like a chef’s kiss, making Ink snicker beside me.
Joey clapped me on the back. “It’s really good to have you back, brother. And I don’t just mean at home. Cannon has been good for you.”
I shrugged, my smile falling away. “She gave me the strength to move on,” I said quietly.
Joey squeezed my shoulder. “Good. Don’t lose sight of what’s important, you hear me? And learn to lean on her when you need to. A woman like that can handle supporting you.”
Ink opened the back door to the van, and without a word, I moved over and helped him wrestle the fucker out. Vern was already off the ground, and unless Paul had overheard us talking, there was no way for him to know that we were setting him up for failure.
“I’m giving you the opportunity to get the fuck out of town, sign Cannon’s divorce papers, and never even think about her again,” I told him, lying to his face, but he didn’t know that.
His face was pale, his breaths sawing heavily in and out of his lungs. “Okay. Anything,” he pleaded when I untied the bandana gagging him. “Just please don’t kill me.”
I began to untie his arms. “I have eyes and ears everywhere, Paul. I’ll know if you make a wrong move. I can be thousands of miles away from you and still be breathing down your neck. Don’t fucking forget it.”
He jerkily nodded his head. “I won’t. I swear, I won’t.”
I pulled the divorce papers out of the manila envelope and handed him a pen. He quickly scrawled his name where needed, and only after he’d done what he was supposed to did Ink untie his ankles. We stepped back, and Vern tossed him his car keys. “Happy travels,” Vern cheerfully told him. I rolled my lips into my mouth to hide my laugh.