Total pages in book: 266
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
They all ignore her.
“Bella is Isabella—”
“I know who she is.” Adam interrupts Saint. “But you can’t hurt Charlotte.”
“Saint?” Ashtyn’s voice has gone from curiosity to concern, yet they still ignore her.
“We’ll do whatever the fuck we want with her,” Kashton growls, pushing Adam off him. “You weren’t here!” he screams in his face. “Her mother…”
“Haidyn married her. Charlotte is his wife,” Adam snaps as I sit up and push my back into the front of the couch, pulling my knees to my chest. That feeling of nausea has returned tenfold, and I feel everyone’s eyes now on me. Including Ashtyn. I guess she’s kept that to herself by how surprised Kash and Saint are because I had told her I was Haidyn’s wife out of spite. Because I felt threatened. Now it seems so silly.
Both of their eyes drop to my left hand, and they notice my ring for the first time. Kashton digs into his pocket and pulls out Haidyn’s ring that he had left on my nightstand. I didn’t know Kashton brought it with him.
“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Kashton growls. “And let me guess, you’re her guardian?”
“No. You are,” Adam answers, and Kashton’s face tightens.
“What’s a guardian?” I ask, panic bubbling in my chest. Kashton obviously wants me dead, so him being a guardian over me doesn’t sound like anything good. But just like Ashtyn, everyone ignores me.
Saint turns and punches the wall, making Ashtyn take a step back, and I lower my forehead to my bent knees. My hope that we’ll find Haidyn is dwindling because if they’re mad at him for marrying me, they might not care to find him. Is that why he married me? Did it have to do with my mother? How does he know my mom? I don’t understand how they’re connected.
The door opens once more, and I look up to see Gavin enter. He squares his shoulders, and I wonder if he can feel the tension in the room. “You wanted to see me?” he questions.
Saint is pacing, and Kashton is glaring at me. It’s Adam who speaks. “What did Haidyn tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit!” Saint snaps and points at me. “He called you to give Charlotte adrenaline. Why?”
Gavin frowns. “I didn’t give her adrenaline. Haidyn had already given it to her before I arrived, so he wanted me to check her out. He informed me that when he arrived at her house, she was lying unconscious on the kitchen floor. She had been given a drug to make her appear dead, and he administered the adrenaline himself. I checked her over, and she was well. Unconscious but would make a full recovery.”
A silence falls over the office again. I swallow the taste of vomit and whisper, “He lied to me.”
Saint snorts as if that’s the least of my problems. Kashton rolls his eyes, and the man who I know as Adam looks at me with sympathy. Ashtyn stares at her twin brother with a look of confusion and surprise to see him in the same room as us. No one is on the same page right now. So many secrets and lies between all of us.
“I’m sure there’s several things he’s lied to you about,” Saint says coldly. His eyes drop to the ring on my finger before they meet mine again.
“Saint,” Adam snaps, his green eyes hardening.
Saint ignores him and walks over to the couch. I push my back into the front as he places his fists on either side of the cushions against my back, leaning over and caging me in. His cold dark green eyes search mine as he says, “Did Haidyn tell you that he killed your father?”
I shake my head. What? He must be mistaken. “No—”
“We were all on his yacht that night…”
“Stop!” Adam yanks him away from me, but he pulls himself from Adam’s hold. “Let it go, Saint,” he barks.
“Let it go?” He snorts. “This bitch’s mother…”
“This isn’t about her or her mother. This is about Haidyn,” Adam shouts, interrupting him. “Charlotte is his wife.” Adam’s soft eyes meet my watery ones. “He’s in love with her. He gave himself up for her.” Then he points at Ashtyn who stands with her back to the wall. “He gave himself up for your wife. For you.” He jabs a finger into Saint’s chest. “And you.” He glares at a pissed-off Kashton. “All of us. You called me and here I am. Now shut the fuck up and help me come up with a plan to get our brother back!”
I sit on the floor staring at Haidyn’s desk. A small hourglass sits on the surface. All the sand fills the bottom. If I had any energy, I’d break it. I’d get up, throw it against the wall, and watch it shatter like my fucking soul.