Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“On top?” she asked, seeing the sparkle in his eyes. It was the same look he’d given her when he had convinced her to leave town, to leave their parents. Had that all been a lie then as well?
Looking at her brother, it was strange but she could finally see through all his bullshit. All her life, she had loved her brother, looked up to him, admired him, and yet, right now, she realized it was all a lie.
“Yeah.” Ben looked past her shoulder and then pulled her in for a hug. “I’ve got contacts. All I need is for you to break through that fortress of a house, and leave Rome vulnerable. I’ve got men willing to do the deed. Then you will be free, and I will have this city to run. We’ll be on top.”
Beth couldn’t help but tense up. Ben was talking about killing Rome. This was insane.
“Ben, I’m pregnant,” Beth said.
“Well, that’s fine. We can get rid of it and I just know one of the men are going to love you, and they won’t even care that you shared Rome’s bed. I can make it work, and you can have everything your heart desires. All you’ve got to do is leave the back door open, or the front door. We’ll handle the guards, and then Rome will be dead.”
Beth pulled away and looked at her brother. She didn’t know if he was crazy or not. “This is what it has always been about, isn’t it?”
Her brother frowned as he looked at her. “What now, Beth?”
“You didn’t want a fresh start, not really. What you want is an easy life and you don’t give a fuck who suffers as long as you don’t have to work or do the right thing, or, I don’t know, put effort in!” She felt the anger bubbling up inside her. The rage at all the years of lies.
He sighed. “I should have known you wouldn’t understand.”
She shook her head. “Oh, I understand, Ben. I understand perfectly. Like everything else, you want it handed to you on a plate, but you know what, no. Rome is the father of my child, and all you have ever done is use me. What if I had said no to Rome, you might have been the one to pay the consequences for what you did, not me.” She couldn’t believe she was finally seeing how selfish and cruel her brother was after all these years. “You weren’t getting away from Mom and Dad for me, but for yourself.”
“For God’s sake, Beth, get over yourself.”
“No!” she yelled. She couldn’t help it. Whenever her brother had taken that tone with her in the past, she’d let it go because she didn’t want him to be mad at her. She’d never considered the relationship she had with her brother to be an abusive one, and yet, all he’d ever been toward her was exactly that. For years, if she didn’t do what he wanted, he’d have temper tantrums, until she finally caved. Ben had always made her life uncomfortable. It’s why he’d not gotten a real job in five years, because she didn’t want to push him. She’d been grateful to him for getting her away from their parents, and yet, it had all been for his own purpose.
According to that file, he’d pissed off some powerful people back in town, and they’d been looking for him, to teach him a lesson. By getting out of town, he stopped himself from getting beaten, and it also meant he was free.
She couldn’t believe she had never seen how selfish he was before. Her eyes were wide open now.
“Don’t you talk to me like that, after everything I’ve done for you.”
“Done for me! Done for me! What have you done for me, Ben?” She spat his name out. “Yeah, sure, you got me away from our parents, for what reason exactly? Oh, yeah, that’s right, because you didn’t like the way some of the men were looking at me, but let’s evaluate that, shall we? Uh, let’s see, oh, yes, you didn’t like the way they were looking at me, but, and this is a big but, who was quite willing to sell me to a man to save his own life? I’ll keep going, so you don’t have to think too hard. Not only were you quite happy to sell me to save your own neck, you didn’t give a flying fuck about me. You didn’t come see me or call. No! You didn’t get a job, or start paying rent for the apartment. You didn’t do anything. All you have done is take and take and take, and now you expect me to sell out the father of my child.” She shook her head, and this time she stood back. “You, Ben Hunter, have done absolutely nothing for me, and seeing as I’ve done everything in my power to give you a good life, and you’ve shit on me, it’s time for me to say I’m done.”