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)
He bends and pulls a griddle out of a lower kitchen cupboard.
Alannah stares at me for a beat before she puts the knife back into the block, grabs her phone and pockets it before nabbing the coffee cup and tagging my hand, pulling me to the couch. We both set our coffees down.
There’s some clanging in the kitchen as Derek roots around. Then he resumes talking, gesticulating with a spatula.
“I didn’t like where things were with her and Hallman, so last night I picked her up after having a chat with him. He agreed to withdraw his marriage proposal and take full responsibility. Which is good, because all this is his fault.”
Derek opens a bacon package with a pair of scissors and separates pieces of meat, dropping them into a frying pan on the stove.
“His fault?” Alannah queries.
“If he were doing right by Chloe, you two wouldn’t have had that conversation that I overheard that night in Downtown. That conversation lit a match in me and once that happens only I decide to put the flame out. Nobody else. So you won’t talk me out of what’s happening here, for your information, because due to his behavior I’ve taken it upon myself to relieve him of his duties while taking full responsibility for the breakup. Chloe won’t have to feel judged by people who might think poorly of a woman who’d end her unhappy relationship because the guy lost use of his legs. As if that gives him a free pass to treat her like a piece of the furniture.” He rolls his eyes.
Alannah gives me a strange look before she continues. “I’ve heard concerning things about your family, but also some rumors about you. How do I know you’re going to be any better? How do we know you won’t suddenly snap and hurt Chloe? You’ve got a pretty warped view from everything you’re saying so far. And I’ve heard you have some pretty extreme reactions when you feel people wrong you.”
“Have you heard of me having a history of hurting women?” he asks.
“No,” Alannah replies.
“So you’re letting rumors cloud your judgment?”
“Your behavior is what’s got me most concerned. But I also happen to know the bartender you fired the night you met Chloe. He’s not only been arrested, he got jumped by two guys when he got out on bond and beaten badly. Very badly. And then his apartment caught fire while he was in the hospital, ruining just the items in his unit, and destroying a valuable trading card collection.”
“What makes you think those things have anything to do with me? Other than having him arrested. That was business. If I don’t make an example of theft, I’ll be a target. It’s based on firing a thief that you think I’d hurt her?”
“His card collection is kept in a locked fireproof box under his bed. It was mysteriously left open on the bed. His lawyer also quit on him with no explanation.”
“Why do you care about a bartender that was stealing from not only his employer, but also the patrons? Fleecing customers like yourself and your coworkers out of your hard-earned money either by fucking with the change or by charging people for top shelf liquor and serving something else? Watering down drinks.”
“Okay, Alex aside, let’s talk about Chloe. You’ve blackmailed her into having an affair with you. You’ve stalked her, infiltrated her privacy. You’ve threatened her. I don’t even know all of what you’ve done because she’s been clammed up about it.”
“I’ve done what I need to do to win her so that I can give her the happiness she deserves. I’m gonna marry her Monday, put my ring on her finger, and make all her dreams come true.”
I’m just sitting still, holding my coffee, watching these two.
I take a sip.
“Marry her on Monday?”
“That’s right. I wasn’t sure at first what I wanted other than to rock her world and get her to use the hall pass on me. But the more I learn, the more I see, and definitely the more time I spend with her, I know I want it all.”
“She doesn’t want to marry you. You’ve been blackmailing her. Stalking her. Infiltrating her privacy.”
“She’ll get over it.” He shrugs, flipping slices of bacon.
“And when you’re over your infatuation with her? She’s blissfully happy and madly in love and you’re over it, what happens then?”
“Until a few days ago I would’ve said we’d part amicably. Now, though? Now that I’m planning on putting her in that white dress and giving her my last name? I think that makes it pretty clear I have no intention of ever being done with her. I wouldn’t go from wanting to make her happy and undoing all the bad in her life to making her marry me if I wasn’t absolutely sure doing it would mean to me what I know it means to her.”