Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
“What about… Mom? I mean, Cassandra?” Old habits died hard, Raven supposed. The woman had raised her, after all. “I’m sure she pressured you to stand by your brother and turn your back on me.”
In fact, Raven assumed she’d be hearing from Cassandra very soon and she’d find a way to twist last night and blame it on her.
“Mom tried but I laid down the law. If she wants to see her grandson, she needs to lay off you. No contact, no threats, nothing.”
Raven parted her lips as Caleb dealt yet another surprise. “You did that for me?”
“I did one better.” A soft smile lifted his lips. “I told her that she couldn’t support Lance, not with a lawyer or any other way. He’s a sociopath who deserves to rot in jail. If I find out otherwise, she’s out of mine and Owen’s life. For good.”
As his words settled, Raven studied him, the bloodshot eyes and sorrowful lines around his mouth. They’d pass and he’d be happy again. She intended to make certain of it.
“Did she agree?”
He answered with a curt nod of his head. “I said it all in front of Lance and she walked out of the room beside me. I watched her get into her car.”
Wow. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I am. I can’t even say I love my brother because he tormented anyone in his vicinity from the time we were little.”
Yes, he had, she thought, feeling worse for Caleb than she did for herself.
“Your turn.”
After all he’d said and done, she drew a deep breath and told him last night’s story, not surprised when she fell apart doing it. Being held at gunpoint by a man who was capable of such evil and pain had finally caught up with her.
She realized Caleb had pulled her into him and let her sob out her trauma. When she was finished, she wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt.
“Sorry for losing it.” Her eyes burned from crying and now she had a throbbing ache in her temple.
Caleb frowned. “I’ll ignore that apology. You have every right to be an emotional mess.”
She treated him to a grim smile.
A few moments of easy silence passed until Caleb spoke again. “So? What are your plans now that you’re free?”
“I thought about that earlier. Being free to make my own choices about where I’ll go, live, what I really want to do with my life.” Though she hadn’t answered those questions earlier, she knew the answers.
“And?”
She lifted her shoulder in a little shrug. “I choose Remy, whatever that means.” He loved her and she’d never said it back. He’d helped her, given her shelter in more ways than a roof over her head, and she owed it to Remy, and herself, to be honest about her feelings for him. She could do that now, without the worry of any repercussions.
Caleb grinned. “It means happiness, Raven. Now go and live the life you’ve always deserved.”
She planned to do exactly that.
* * *
Remy hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but he’d stepped out of the office with the intention of going to his bedroom when their voices carried.
I choose Remy.
His heart beat a rapid staccato in his chest as she said the words he’d been hoping to hear for too long. He heard the sound of footsteps and Raven walking her brother out.
He joined them in the foyer by the elevator and exchanged a few words with Caleb before the doors opened. The siblings hugged with promises to get together for their weekly dinner with Owen on Wednesday.
Raven turned to Remy, an easy, relaxed smile on her face. One he’d never seen before. “We’re free that night, right?”
She was automatically including him in her family dinner. Not because he was her security or protection but because… he was one of them and she wanted him there.
“Yeah, baby. We’re free.”
Caleb stepped onto the lift. “Take care of my sister,” he said as the doors shut, leaving them alone.
Remy glanced at Raven and held out his arms, catching her as she jumped into his embrace, spider monkey style. He wrapped his arms around her and walked through the penthouse, heading for the bedroom, where he planned to lower her to the bed.
Instead, she held on tight. “I need to tell you something,” she said softly.
“I’m listening.”
Her arms still wrapped around his neck, she leaned back and looked into his eyes. “I realized something this morning.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m free to do anything I want. Go anywhere, do anything. Love anyone without fear of them or the people they care about being hurt.”
He waited, heart pounding, as she spoke. “And I love you, Remington Sterling.”
He’d been waiting too damn long for those words and now that she’d said them, she was his. He was never letting her go.
“I love you, too, Raven Walsh.”