Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
I’m frowning. Not because of what she’s said, because if it’s rumored that he killed two wives and these two didn’t like him, none of them liked him, does that mean nobody will help me? If they’re all supposedly afraid of Derek, my plan might not go anywhere.
I deflate and stare out the window. I may need an alternate plan if today proves fruitless.
Do I defy Derek and share details about the stalking, the invasion of privacy, the threats?
I feel his hand wrap around mine. His thumb caresses the back of my hand, then grazes my naked ring finger. I stare at it for a minute realizing once again that it doesn’t feel strange that the ring is gone. How strange that it doesn’t feel strange. Maybe that’s because it seemed so easy for Adam to let me walk away. A lump forms in my throat; stinging hits my sinuses, but I push away the emotion. I don’t need to cry right now. I don’t need to ruin my makeup before getting to Derek’s parents’ place, not that I want to go, but I certainly don’t want to look like a non-credible walking disaster if I do manage to find someone I can talk to about helping wrangle their son or brother.
My eyes rove from his hand on mine up to his face as he drives one-handed, sunglasses on, looking devastatingly handsome in his dark suit, black and blue tie. The blue in the tie matches my dress.
He told me I looked gorgeous just before we left as he backed me up and caged me against the wall. He tried to make out with me, but I ducked under his arms and escaped back into the master bedroom closet to choose some earrings and a necklace from the selection of items Nicola the shopper sent.
“Chloe?”
I’m abruptly jerked out of my thoughts by Grace. I pull my hand back out of Derek’s grip.
“Hm?”
“I was asking you about what happened to your sibling. Is that too painful to talk about?”
“Oh, yes, it’s still painful, but… my brother died when we were teens.”
“How’d he die?”
“Brain tumor.”
“I’m so sorry. That must have been terrible.”
“It was,” I say hoarsely and clear my throat.
Bryan is a sacred subject to me, so I’m relieved when she changes the subject by asking where I grew up.
“Dayton,” I say. “You?” I add belatedly.
“We were all in boarding schools with some exchange programs. Our parents wanted us to be culturally literate, so we’ve all done multiple continents. Well, Ash kept getting expelled so wound up doing most of his high school years here in Columbus at the public school. If he’d gotten kicked out of that last option, he’d have landed himself in a military school known for being rather… brutal. We all know he was bribing the public school’s principal to overlook his shenanigans so that wouldn’t happen. Technically we all grew up here between semesters, though. Have you met any of the others? Did Derek give you the lowdown?”
“No and no,” I reply.
“So, there’s Elijah, our oldest brother. He’s married. None of us has any kids yet. Lord help whoever is the first to make our mother a grandmother. She could have a coronary when it happens.” She snickers. “Then there was Thad born next. He… you don’t need the gory details. He was very temperamental. Classic narcissist. Development delays but coddled by his nanny and our mother and then… yeah, no point going into detail. Anyway, then Derek here before Jonah. Jonah’s single. Asher is single. Nay is married. Ash and Naomi are fraternal twins, but they don’t get along. In fact they pretend one another doesn’t exist. Then there’s little ole me.”
“And you’re single, I take it?” I ask, just to keep the conversation going.
“I am,” she says wistfully and then lets out a dramatic sigh.
I look down as I feel Derek taking my hand again.
I try to pull it away, but his grip tightens. The vibe he’s giving is so sexually charged, it makes the contents of my belly take a dive.
“It’ll just be all of you with your parents today then?” I ask over my shoulder. “Or other relatives as well?”
“I don’t think Eli’s wife will come. They’re having … issues. And she and our mother don’t exactly see eye to eye so she avoids Steele family things whenever she can. Nay’s husband loves being a Steele spectator and would typically come, but Joshua is a neurosurgeon and she said he had a big surgery, so he won’t be there. You’ll meet him at the bigger party, I’m sure. And that’s where you’ll meet the rest of the Steele clan. Cousins. Uncles. Aunts. So forth. There are a lot of us.”
Great. All these people today and me the only outsider.
“The big party next weekend will be all sorts of family and friends, a lot of business associates and A-listers. It’ll be a bash. We’ll get drunk then, too.”