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)
“Believe me,” Ivy told me. “She found someone she loved dead. She felt the horror, pain, and confusion of calling their name while lifeless eyes stared back at her. She stayed there for days while the cold realization that they weren’t coming back bit into her. That changes you, Jacques. It changes you permanently.”
Zara flicked down to the groaning man at her feet and—
My gaze sharpened, seeing a look in her eyes that I would’ve missed if I wasn’t watching at that exact millisecond.
“Oh my gosh,” Zara cried, dropping down beside him. “Are you okay? Stupid idiot, racing around campus like that. Did he hurt you? Can you get up?”
Her fussing faded into noise in the back of my mind. Ivy de Souza, it’s your judgment I will never question again.
I stood to the side, my back once again scraped by bark while Zara and two other guys helped him up and carried him to the health center. Show over, the crowd melted away—leaving only the cyclist. He came up to me.
“That was fun,” he mused. “I’m putting ‘do my own stunts’ on my actor resume. Got something for me?”
I smacked two hundred dollars on his palm as promised.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Stone.”
I nodded, my mind returning to Zara the second he left. I had to get creative to get the nine to reveal something without suspecting I was looking for it. If only I could count on the others making it this easy for me.
I set off, heading to the first class of the morning, which happened to be held in the same building where the next person on my list also had a morning class.
One down, eight more to go.
LEGEND
I blinked awake in the dark, my vision coming into focus on my darkened canopy. I couldn’t say what exactly woke me. It wasn’t the tightness nipping at my wrists—that was nothing new. It also wasn’t the weight and warmth pressing into my left side. Put it down to naturally honed instincts that tell you something was off, but the reason my hands were now tied to the bed and someone was sleeping next to me, wasn’t due to Roan.
“Ivy.”
She wiggled, burrowing deeper into my side. “Hmm?”
“Do I need to ask questions, or are you going to explain this yourself?”
Her husky, sleep-deepened voice found me in the dark. “Seems pretty self-explanatory. I miss waking up next to you, but you’ve been so irritatingly stubborn, I’ve had to take matters into my own hands.”
“So you tied me to my bed.” Saying it out loud wasn’t helping either.
“Untie me.”
“No.”
My brows shot up my forehead. If I needed further proof this wasn’t the woman I knew, she gave it to me. The only one she’d ever taken charge with before that night on the bridge was Roan, and that was because he demanded no less. The woman currently dropping kisses on my jaw did not take no for an answer. She had taken back Roan, Arsenio, and Jacques. Looks like I was next.
“I never thought I’d say these words before, but I’m not having sex with you. Walk out of here with some dignity, de Souza. Whatever the hell you’re trying to do won’t work.”
“Roan seems to think it’ll work. Who do you think told me where you guys keep the silk ties?”
Irritation ticced my jaw. “Roan put you up to this?”
“Yep, but he only confirmed what I knew. The key to you is persistence, Legend St. James. Your parents didn’t work very hard, or at all, to have a relationship with you. They turned you over to nannies and housekeepers and went about their lives—only noticing you when you were useful to them.
“You may be the one pushing me away, but if I give in. If I let you go without a fight, I’m only proving I’m like all the rest. I love you, Legend, and I’m not going anywhere. I won’t get you back until I prove it.”
A rough snort rocked my chest. “I wish the lights were on so you saw how hard I rolled my eyes. Save the lonely-little-rich-boy, psychobabble nonsense for someone else. I’m not pushing you away as some kind of test. I just don’t want to be with you,” I dropped. “I’m not attracted to you anymore, and I sure as fuck don’t love you.”
I shook my wrists. “Matter of fact, this little stunt shrunk my balls and sucked them up in my body. That’s how turned off I am right now. Rainey was a tasty, submissive little treat who dropped on her knees and took a paddle on command. Have you met my fucking boyfriend? What made you or him think that this would work on me? Untie me and get the hell out. I wouldn’t fuck you again if you paid me.”
Ivy propped her chin on my chest. I saw the outline of a smile traced in moonlight. “This is also what you do. Get vicious. Think if you hurt my feelings, I’ll go running off, and you’ll have protected yourself from losing another person like you lost who I thought I was. It’s not going to work, so relax, baby.” She caressed my stiff chest. “I once promised that I’d never let you sleep alone.”