Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
My brows furrow, and a sharp pang resounds in my chest. I hate him for betraying her. But that betrayal cracked her open enough to love me and my brothers.
Everything is shifting, tilting in the wrong direction.
The door opens, and Melanie strides in. “Oh good, you’re all here.”
“This conversation isn’t over,” Monty says under his breath.
No, it’s not fucking over. But Frankie doesn’t need a battle. She needs respect and space to make her own choices. Monty’s declaration feels like an imposition.
My protective instincts, tightly coiled, will explode if he oversteps. Kody’s black glare at Monty carries the same silent warning.
We’ll ensure Monty understands the boundaries, that his stance won’t change how we—along with Frankie—will decide the future.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” Melanie pauses beside us, her blonde hair twisted in a knot at her nape. “The doctors are releasing you today.”
My pulse races, a frantic drumbeat in my ears.
Monty removes his phone and types on the screen. “I have a security team on standby.”
“Okay, good.” Melanie nods, turning to us. “I reviewed the contents of the thumb drive. Before you make any decisions about where to go, you need to review the information on that drive. Monty can transport you to my office in Anchorage. It’s private, comfortable, and, above all, secure. Sound good?”
“What is on the thumb drive?” Kody growls.
“DNA paternity and maternity tests.” She sets her shoulders. “They checked out. The information proves the biological parents for you two and Wolfson.”
“Oh, God.” Frankie grips my hand.
“Is that all?” I ask.
“No. There’s more. Including a video of Denver Strakh addressed to all of you.”
Squeezed into the back seat of a sleek sedan beside Kody, I choke on the tension crammed in such a small space.
Monty, Leo, and Kody in one car.
Their DNA results.
Denver’s video.
The temperature of my blood is negative degrees. I can’t feel my face.
Monty navigates the snowy streets of Anchorage with practiced ease while Leo, positioned in the passenger seat beside him, drums his fingers against his knee.
No one speaks.
Through the windows, Anchorage stretches out alongside us, flickering with lights and shadows that trace the rhythm of the city.
Kody takes up most of the back seat, filling it with his muted yet powerful presence. His dark eyes flick from one landmark to the next, absorbing every detail of the unfamiliar environment.
Leo, on the other hand, is more openly restless. The rhythmic tapping of his fingers betrays a nervous energy or perhaps excitement. His attention flits between the city outside and the interior of the car.
They’re both out of their element, propelled from a world of snow and silence into the bustling, noisy reality of city life. I can feel the effort it takes for them to process everything.
As for Monty, it’s strange to see him behind the wheel. Where are his chauffeurs and personal assistants who do everything for him?
Sirena said he scorched his life to the ground during his search for me. Is that what this is?
His voice cuts through the silence, directed at Leo. “If you’re cold, you can adjust the temperature.” He points at the panel of dials.
Leo leans forward, his interest piqued as he studies the controls. “How does it work?” His finger hovers over the array of options.
“This dial controls the temperature. Turning it to the right makes it warmer, to the left, cooler. And these buttons operate the fan speed and direction of the air.”
Leo nods and shifts his attention to the instrument cluster. “What about those?”
Monty turns onto the next street and launches into an overview of the speedometer, fuel gauge, engine temperature, oil pressure, and battery.
I nudge Kody, and he bends into me, sniffing my hair. When he makes a purring sound against my scalp, I melt.
There’s my feral man.
“It’s like a cockpit.” Leo’s gaze moves from one dial to the next.
“In a way.” Monty eyes him, his brows knitting before he returns to the road ahead. “Just a lot simpler to operate than a plane or helicopter. You’ll get the hang of it.”
The exchange, simple as it is, eases some of the awkward tension.
Monty’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror with a frequency that feels comforting and disconcerting.
Each glance carries a thousand pounds of worry, particularly about what we’ll discover on the thumb drive. But there’s something else, too. His concern for what remains unsaid between us, for the state of my feelings toward him. I sense his fear that my heart is forever lost to him.
It complicates everything.
Sitting here, sandwiched between Kody and the door, I tense against the turmoil. Monty’s recent vulnerability, the raw openness he displayed by baring his heart, is not something I would have ever expected from him. It was an act so unlike the Monty I knew. It shook me.
But the truth is, along that hellish road between the pregnancy test and the sex tape, I fell out of love with him.