Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
I stand up, angry now, certain this is indeed about the dirty deeds this family has done to Eric. Certain I have to tell him. I walk toward the window, my voice low, but my fury palpable. “He didn’t do this, but my God, mother. He has every right to hate this family. Can you imagine if they’d done to me what they did to his mother and him? How can you not see what they are? How can you not understand what they’ve done is evil?”
“It was all Isaac. Isaac did it all, not your father.”
“He’s not my damn father and Isaac didn’t do half the shit this family did to Eric. It was Gigi and her damn son. Your husband. And you’re close to both of them. Please tell me that you didn’t have any part of any action against Eric. Because if you did—”
“Why can you not see how much he can take? Why can you not see that he can take everything? Why? Don’t you know—”
“He doesn’t want your money. He has his own. Far more than you will ever have. Tell me you didn’t—”
“Does he know? Is that what this is about? Is he coming for us because he knows?”
I frown. She keeps saying that. “What is it that you think he knows?”
“You know what it is. You know. I told you.”
“You weren’t sure when you told me. Then you said you were wrong.”
“I am. I just—I didn’t want you to hate your father so I—I told you I was wrong. I know you knew it was true, though.”
Bile rises in my throat. It’s true. I can’t believe it’s true and she’s still with that man.
“Did you tell him?” she demands. “Did you tell him because you imagined yourself in love with him? He’s your stepbrother. He’s—”
“Stop! Will you just stop? I don’t imagine myself in love with him. I am in love with him.” One of my hands presses to the glass. “I love him.”
“He doesn’t love you. He loves power. He’s using you to take everything. He’s taking the love of my life and now he’s taking you and all we’ve worked for.”
The love of her life. Suddenly that isn’t my father. Emotions well inside me. Anger. Pain. More anger. “I don’t even know who you are right now,” I say, my voice low, taut, when I want to scream at her. “Take your Xanax, mother, and go to bed.” I disconnect, trepidation enveloping me. I don’t know how I tell Eric what must be revealed. I think to this point I’ve reasoned away telling him because I wasn’t certain of the facts. But I can no longer deny the truth as reality. But how do I do this? No. I can’t tell him. Oh Lord, help me and him, I have to tell him.
Eric’s hand settles on my waist, warm, strong, and perfect. I don’t want to tell him. I don’t even know if it’s safe to tell him. I rotate to face him, taking in the handsome lines of his face. His firm jaw. His full mouth that can be both brutal and gentle, sometimes within the same few minutes. My gaze lands back on that jaguar tattoo and my hands settle on top of it. “I wanted to protect you.”
His eyes narrow, the blue sharpening with sparks of amber. The air sharpening with his sudden shift in mood. He doesn’t touch me, a charge crackling off of him. “What does that mean, Harper?”
Chapter ninety-four
Harper
Itry to catch my breath, but I can’t. I’m almost wheezing with the effort. I think I might be hyperventilating and I’ve never hyperventilated in my life. Eric’s hands come down on my arms and he turns me, pressing me against the beam dividing the window. “What is bad enough to make you react like you are right now? And what happened to no more secrets?”
“I wasn’t sure it was real. I said that, didn’t I? I’m not sure if I did or didn’t but that’s the case. My mother told me years ago and then she played it off like she was wrong about it. Now, she thinks that I told you and that you tried to kill your father because of it.”
“Harper,” he warns, his expression stormy, intense, dark.
“I need to tell you. I do, but I need a plan first.” My eyes go wide with the only solution possible. “I tie you to the bed to tell you and let you calm down before you take action. Or not tie you down. I think you need your cubes. Lots of cubes. Like a dozen and to be locked in a room. Can we do that? Can we do those things?” Tears start to burn in my eyes. My fingers flatten on his chest. “Please. I’m begging you. I need you. We need each other, remember?”