Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Slade.
Fuck. My body sags in relief.
What the hell is he doing? He knows where I stand on having men sneaking into my bedroom in the middle of the night. How could he cross that line? The first time he didn’t know, but now…something must be wrong.
I try to reach for his face but his hand shoots up, somehow able to see perfectly well in this darkness, and slams my hand above my head, keeping me completely immobilized. “What’s your problem? What do you think you’re doing? It’s the middle of the fucking night,” I demand, struggling to keep my voice down.
Even in this darkness, it’s impossible not to see the way his eyes blaze with fury. “You. Knew.”
“Yeah, so you keep saying,” I throw back at him, pissed to be held against the wall in the middle of the night while also pissed that I let my guard down. I never do this but since Slade came along a false sense of security came over me and clearly, that was a mistake. I struggle against his hold “What the fuck do I know?”
“Lucien. You fucking knew it all and didn’t say a goddamn word. How could you do that? I thought we had something going here. I thought I could fucking trust you,” he shakes his head as pain tears right through my soul, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. Daniella told him. “You talk a big fucking game when it comes to loyalty, but the second you could, you fucking betrayed me.”
The fuck?
Fury ripples through me and I push back on his chest, demanding space that he refuses to give. It’s one thing for him to be annoyed that I didn’t speak up, but it’s a whole other thing for him to accuse me of betraying him. Clearly, he’s only just found out and hasn’t thought this through, otherwise, I know he wouldn’t dare step into my room and accuse me of this bullshit.
“Are you kidding me? Yeah, okay, I knew and I didn’t say a word, but how could I?”
“Excuse me?” he grunts in disbelief, his nostrils flaring as his world falls around him. I honestly feel for him, I am so damn gutted for him that this is his reality. I couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling right now and I want nothing more than to reach out and wrap my arms around him, reminding him that he is good, but right now, I’m fucking pissed, and damn it, he’s going to fucking know it.
“You heard me,” I say through my teeth, pushing him again, this time getting the tiniest bit of space. “You were there when Blake outed me to the fucking world. You saw what that did to me. It was my secret to keep, my secret to share in my own time, and that was stolen from me way before I was ready to even consider sharing it. I was exposed, ashamed, embarrassed, and hurt. How could I have done that to your mom? My mother’s best friend. How could you be okay with me doing that to her? Me telling you that Lucien is your father is the same damn thing as telling you what he did to her, and I’m sorry that hurts you but this is so much bigger than you.”
“I have his blood running through my veins.”
I lean into him, hating how harsh I have to be. “This. Is. Bigger. Than. You.”
He shakes his head, the betrayal shining so damn brightly in his eyes that it kills me. He’s far too angry and confused to see things clearly. He’s thinking of him, thinking about how this is going to affect his world. Despite my explanation, he’s too far gone to see the bigger picture.
I step into him and reach up to touch his face, only he slaps my hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me,” he growls, bearing down on me. “You and me. We’re done.”
No. He doesn’t mean that. He couldn’t…
“What’s going on in here?” A stern Ben demands, barging through my bedroom door and sending the room into an intense brightness as he turns on the light.
Slade and I continue staring at one another, my heart tearing in two. My eyes begin to well with tears and I hate how damn obvious I’m being. How could I have let him close enough to hurt me? I knew better than that.
“Nothing,” I say through the lump in my throat, refusing to believe that he just ended this. “Slade was just leaving.”
He continues to stare and it’s as though Ben isn’t even here. “You heard her,” Ben rumbles when Slade doesn’t go to move.
His jaw clenches and he takes a step back and then another. As the distance grows, so does the gaping hole in my chest. His eyes are torn from mine and without a backward glance, Slade walks out the door and out of my life, leaving me gasping for air.