Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“You shouldn’t have offered him so much,” Amanda pouted. “You should have kept the whole five million for us, Chuckie!”
“Had to give him some reason to work with me,” Chuck pointed out. “Besides, he’s the one who has to put up with Torri and her crazy night terrors every night for the rest of her life. Anybody who can do that deserves half a million dollars in my book. Oh look—I found it!”
He held up the cell phone triumphantly and grinned at Amanda.
“Finally.” Amanda jumped off the bed and straightened her skirt. “Are you ready to go? I don’t want to be late!”
“Ready,” Chuck echoed. “Come on—let’s get going, babe.”
They left the bedroom, switching off the lights behind them.
Torri watched them go from the confines of the closet, feeling so many emotions it was hard to contain them. She felt sick and sad and angry and betrayed.
Her whole marriage was a lie and apparently it had been for some time.
Twenty-Six
“Torri…” Vic began and then didn’t know what to say. He was appalled by what they had just witnessed. Not only had Torri’s mate taken up with another female, he was also planning to defraud her financially and leave her in the mental institution for the rest of her life.
Torri looked stunned and he didn’t blame her. He couldn’t imagine treating any female the way her own mate had treated her. It was heartless and wrong—even Vic, an artificial organism, could see that.
“Torri,” he began again. “If you need to talk…”
“What is there to say?” she asked dully, looking down at her hands. Even in the near total darkness of the closet, Vic could see the tears running silently down her cheeks.
“There is much to say—when you’re ready to say it,” Vic said, frowning. Seeing her upset and in pain gave him that tight feeling in his chest again. He was angry for her and he wanted to comfort her at the same time, but he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.
“You know, I didn’t even know about the money?” she whispered. “I was so broken up after my Nana’s death that I begged Chuck to go meet with the lawyer about her will—I felt like I just couldn’t deal with it. He went, of course—I guess that’s when he found out she left me so much.”
“He didn’t tell you anything about your inheritance?” Vic asked.
She shook her head.
“He just said she left me her log cabin—you know, the one I always take you to in our dreams?”
Vic nodded sympathetically.
“It’s a beautiful place,” he murmured.
“Yeah, well—Chuck wanted me to sell it. Now I’m glad I didn’t.” She sniffed. “After everything is over, at least I’ll still have a place to live.”
“I don’t understand how he could take another mate when he was still mated to you, though,” Vic said, frowning. “I confess I am very confused. Don’t humans form any kind of bond that keeps them from straying away to other potential partners?”
“Bond?” Now she was the one who sounded confused. “No, we don’t have any kind of bond. I mean, we take vows at the altar. We vow to stick together even in tough times and to love each other in sickness or in health.” She sniffed again. “I guess Chuck has been breaking those vows for a while now.”
“I guess so,” Vic murmured. He shook his head. “The reason I asked about bonds is that the Kindred form a soul-bond with their mates that allows them to communicate telepathically and feel each other’s feelings at times. It deepens their love and makes the idea of finding another mate unthinkable.”
“Well, it sounds like that’s just one more way your society is more advanced than we humans are,” Torri said dully. She swiped at her eyes. “I just can’t believe he’s been cheating on me for more than half our marriage and I was too stupid to figure it out!”
“Torri…” They were sitting together on the floor of the large clothes storage closet and now Vic cupped her cheek and tilted her face towards his. Looking into her eyes he murmured, “You are not stupid. You have a good and loving heart and you were deceived—that’s all.”
“I should have known something was going on. Not just after he dumped me in St. Elizabeth’s—even before that,” she said brokenly. “He pretended he was bowling every Friday night, when instead he was spending it with her. You know he even brought home a bowling trophy? I mean, who does that? Who takes a lie that far?”
She began to sob, covering her face with her hands as her shoulders shook.
Vic’s heart ached for her pain. He knew he probably shouldn’t allow himself to have these emotions but he couldn’t seem to stop them. Seeing Torri upset was almost more than he could bear. Not knowing what else he could do, he listened to the organic part of his brain which told him she needed comfort, and gathered her into his lap. Torri turned her face into his chest and Vic held her as she sobbed.