Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Cairo shifted back to the wheel, taking off. “It’s a theory.”
“That makes sense,” I pressed. “Steven Ellis would be doing things a lot differently if he knew all the positions of power in town were held by women who were born to stand against him.”
“But why didn’t Cavendish tell him that when they were on good terms? How the fuck did he find out the truth about the Society in the first place? And why did he have you kill him before he achieved the Men of Honor’s goal? Why are his people targeting you now instead of coming for us or the Society? I’m telling you, de Souza, you’re looking for a simple explanation.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing simple about any of this.”
We fell silent. My mind twisted and turned going down the myriad of possibilities for everything that’d happen to me. I couldn’t begin to guess what Cairo was thinking.
“Do you think Arsenio will be okay?” The sheriff’s house came into view.
“Do you care?”
“What?” My brows snapped together. “Of course I care. Why would you ask me that?”
Parking the car, he shoved his door open. “Rainey loved Arsenio. Not you.”
“I—!”
Cairo slammed it shut and strode off inside without a backward glance. I fumed, shaking as I stared at the spot he disappeared. It wasn’t because of what he said. It was the true meaning under it. What he wanted to say was I loved Rainey. Not you.
I had become a different person in his eyes, and he noticed it immediately. There were a lot of things I’d done and said over the years that weren’t me but were so Rainey.
I became her in ways that shocked me now. I ate all her favorite foods, watched her favorite shows, re-did my associate’s degree under another name, and fell for guys I wouldn’t have crossed paths with because of our age difference.
But fall for them I did. I remembered who I was in those final moments before I jumped off the bridge. I remembered Zoey taking away the last of my family and the sister I loved more than anything. As she stood there, smirking about ripping my guys away, I jumped to protect them without hesitation.
How did I make him see nothing’s changed?
Why would he see that? an insidious voice asked. Why would any of them? When a person you love changes in every way, they’re no longer the person you love. Everything Rainey did to earn their trust and love, Ivy washed away in the river.
I got out of the car, taking what felt like a mile-long journey to the welcome mat. No, I was no longer the version of my sweet sister that I was playing. The real me was calmer, harder, sharper. She was an endless well of pain and misery that she learned to wield into a weapon. There was nothing pleasant or submissive about the real me... which is why I won’t sit back and take Cairo’s shit.
He doesn’t get to stop loving me. I would have him, Legend, Jacques, Arsenio, and Roan in every way they had me. Their hang-ups—they’d get over it. Their trust issues—they’d let them go.
The Bedlam Boys were mine.
Always will be.
I entered Jack Sharpe’s beer-reeking, stained hovel, finding Cairo on the couch. I molded to his side, then tipped over, falling against the cushions when he shoved away from me. Swinging out, I grabbed his wrist and pulled, tugging him on top of me.
“Argh!” Cairo flipped and pinned me flat, securing my arms over my head. “Keep your fucking hands to yourself, de Souza.”
My legs snaked around his waist. Looking him in the eyes, I said, “No.”
Rage stoked into an inferno. “Let me make this very clear. I don’t want you.” His lips pressed to my ear. “I never will.”
I pushed down the sting. Cairo was never going to make this easy for me. “You don’t have to do this, Cairo. I’m not her.” The barest peck brushed his lips. “I’m not Nora.”
“Careful.”
I didn’t heed the warning in his hiss. “I’ll always choose you.”
He snarled, face twisting unrecognizable. “Then you’re pathetic. I’m keeping you around until I figure out exactly what’s going on in my town. After Jeremy, his boys, and all your old friends are in the ground, I’m done with you.”
“We’ll see.”
“Pathetic,” he whispered against my lips. “Waste your time on someone who can stand the sight of you. All I see is an imposter.”
I didn’t stop him getting up and storming upstairs. Dragging out the conversation was just inviting him to think of more horrible things to say to me. He lost Rainey the night before. When I lost her, I handled it much worse.
Sitting up, I settled in to wait. And wait. And wait.
Minutes stretched into hours. The sun stretched across the sky, giving rise to hunger pains that reminded me of how long it’d been since I’d eaten. Where the hell was Sheriff Sharpe?