Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Pushing the door open, I hear nothin’ but peaceful silence.
Yeah, ain’t no way in hell this is gonna be good at all. I’m half-tempted to pull my Glock. Don’t even know why, but I can feel the fucking storm that’s brewin’ in this house like some freaky horror movie.
Fuck me.
Walking into the living room, I spot my little boy sleeping on the couch with his tiny arms wrapped around a Clifford stuffed animal. He looks so damn small and fragile, my stomach clenches and knots up at all the missed time.
Leaning down, I kiss his forehead and smile as he grins in his sleep. Fucking little man is the coolest person ever.
Walking through the dining room and kitchen, I don’t see any sign of Allie, so I head back to the bedroom. Maybe she’s slowed her roll and calmed her shit down.
I doubt it, but it’s a nice hope.
I don’t spot her in the bedroom either, but I do hear the bathtub faucet running. Well, I guess she’s prettying herself up after all the shit from yesterday and last night.
Can’t be all bad right?
Opening the door to the bathroom as quietly as I can, I spot Allie sitting in the bathtub, staring right at me.
Yep, I was completely fucking wrong.
It’s all bad.
Chapter Fourteen
Allie
Lies…
It was all lies.
Hugging my knees close to my chest, I bite down on my knuckles to muffle the sobs pouring out of my mouth.
I don’t want to wake Levi.
I don’t want him to see me like this.
Broken and falling apart at the seams.
I’m supposed to be his rock, his sanctuary.
His fucking shield.
But right now I feel like a scattered puzzle, missing too many pieces.
Miss Allison Stack, the daughter of Edward and Lorraine Stack, those hypocritical bible-thumpers building that megachurch over in Westport…
Last night, I was able to convince myself that this whole fucking thing with Coy was just a case of mistaken identity….
But not now. Not after what Poster Boy said to me.
I’m Coy’s Allie.
Pain rips through my chest and I nearly bite through my hand trying to contain it.
He’s supposed to be dead. They told me he was dead…
My first love. The father of my child.
Someone forgotten but always cherished in my heart.
I’ve carried him around inside me, like a fucking trinket. Cherishing the idea of him when things with Mikhail got too bad. Cherishing the knowledge that someone did love me once…
But it was all a lie.
He isn’t dead. He’s still very much alive and breathing.
And they’re both dead. My parents are fucking dead.
Fuck!
Squeezing my eyes shut, I press my face against my knees.
How much of what they told me was the truth? Can I believe even a word they said?
I wish I could ask them. I wish…
I wish Mikhail didn’t kill them so I could get the answers I need.
Another wave of pain flows through me, so strong I can’t breathe.
As angry and hurt as I am, I still miss them. I still need them.
I didn’t always agree with them. I didn’t always like or approve of what they did. The whole making their riches off the teachings of the Lord never sat right with me.
But I loved them. I still love them.
And I want to fucking scream at the realization that they might still be alive if they didn’t lie to me.
Oh god, if they didn’t lie to me, I wouldn’t have married Mikhail. I probably would have come back to Kentucky. Levi could have been raised by Coy, even if—
The bathroom door opens and before I even look up, I can sense him. His fucking presence pulling at me like its own force of gravity.
“Go away,” I croak out and lift my head from my knees to look at Coy. “I want to be alone.”
I need space to get through this pain. Space to think. To breathe.
To cry in peace.
One boot inside the door, Coy seems to hesitate as he looks back at me.
Hoping he’ll get the point and go away if I ignore him, I drop my face back to my knees and hug them tighter.
The door shuts after a couple of minutes and I exhale, relieved that for once what I want and need is being taken into consideration.
Then I hear the sound of leather sliding against cloth.
I jerk my head up in time to see Coy sliding out of his vest and hanging it on the hook on the door.
Motherfucker.
“I mean it, Coy,” I hiss, too raw and vulnerable to deal with his shit. I have to deal with my own shit first. “I need to be alone for a little while. Fuck off. Please.”
“You’ve had five years to be alone, Allie,” he says as he rips off his shirt and drops it to the floor.
Caught between a fresh wave of tears and the need to punch him in the face, I clench my teeth and glare at him.