Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
He pulls back and says, “What the fuck,” and when he does, a furious Gunner is standing in the doorway looking at me with so much anger in his eyes I have to look away.
He goes to walk toward me, but someone touches his arm, causing him to turn back to look and shake his head. Swinging his head back to me he spits, “Get up. Now, Everly.”
I do as he says, but Alec places a drunken hand in front of me, stopping me from walking past him.
“Alec,” I whisper, trying to move, but he isn’t thinking with a clear head.
No, he’s drunk. And worse than that, he’s pissing off Gunner.
“She isn’t yours,” Alec whispers.
I close my eyes, and when I open them, Gunner’s watching me.
“I’m not putting a bullet in his head right now because of you and you alone, Everly. Move now, or I will take you being mad at me for killing him. I don’t care, either way is fine with me.”
I push on Alec’s arm, and he lets it drop as I walk past him. The minute I’m standing in front of Gunner my nerves go on high alert, and I feel and smell every inch of him. Being near him is like standing outside in a storm, the type that can rip you apart. You know you should go, step back and head somewhere safe. But it’s simply too beautiful to look away from, and you want to see the damage it causes.
“Don’t hurt him,” I tell Gunner, who doesn’t look back at Alec. Now that I am near him, Gunner doesn’t care about Alec. He reaches out, his strong fingers latch onto me and he pulls me out the door. My eyes wander over him, over every inch of him that I can see from the back, and I smile. Despite myself, I smile while staring at him. His hair is slicked back and in a low ponytail, his ass looks magnificent in those dress trousers he always wears, and I’m thinking of all the things he’s going to do to me.
Even if I hate him.
Even when I love him.
Opening the door for me, I step inside his car. He heads around to the other side and slides in right next to me. A separator slides up between the driver and us, and the minute it hits the top, everything goes silent. I can hear his breathing and nothing else. He isn’t speaking to me as the car pulls away, and we sit there in silence for at least five minutes as I stare out the window waiting for him to say his first words.
“You wanted to leave me?” he finally questions. “You took off while I was asleep. You wanted to leave?” he says, his voice taking on a darker, accusing tone.
“Yes,” I answer truthfully. “I went to work, but I didn’t run far,” I say, taking a deep breath before I turn to look at him. And when I do, the breath rushes out of me as I look at him. His eyes have turned dark, and they’re set on me, waiting to see what else I have to say.
“You didn’t want to come back, Everly. You wanted to leave me.”
“You told me you wanted to sleep with other women if I didn’t give you what you need. Might I remind you that you hurt me.”
“You loved every minute of it, Everly. It just took you a while to see that you loved it.”
“Fuck you!” I spit at him.
“I plan to. And I might tie you up even longer for good measure.”
My hands touch the door, ready to open it when he speaks again, “It’s locked. No more escaping for you.”
“I’m starting to sober up. You aren’t the man I thought you were.”
“And what man did you think I was?” he asks, leaning closer with an intense glare—one that tells me he’s interested in what I have to say.
“One who respects me.”
He chuckles. “I respect you, Everly. In every way I know how to.”
“I don’t want to fuck you anymore, Gunner.”
“You know what that means then, right?” he asks me.
I turn to face him. “You will fuck other women,” I reply.
“Correct. But you will stay my wife.”
“If I don’t want to?”
“The answer is easy, Everly. I’ll kill them. And your grace period will be me letting you say goodbye before I put a bullet in each of their heads.”
“You can’t just kill them.”
“I have their suicide notes written and ready, it’s part of the contract in case you broke it. So, when I kill them, in no way will it come back to me, when it says, in their handwriting, that they did it themselves.”
“No.” I shake my head. “No way.”
“Of course, I know what day and age we live in. I understand that you could walk away easily now compared to back then. So, they did this, to ensure that you won’t leave.”