Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
I’ve stopped asking that kind of question out loud because as much as I have come to think these guys like me, they treat the nieces like national treasures, and I get the feeling one wrong word from me might not go over so well. But I’m dying to know how the hell three little girls became so smart.
“Cord, get him back to New York. I don’t have to tell you that no one needs to know where he’s going. Russo went back to wherever the fuck he came from, but he said the New York mansion is available when needed.”
“We’ve got Andros’s place on the Hudson as well.”
“They’re looking for someplace to lay low, Mancini, not putting out a hit.”
“Funny! Anyway, it’s an option.” Mancini offered.
“Then again, maybe we should let Andros do his thing.” Lyon snorted. I got the feeling that I did not want to know what they were talking about.
“Okay, kid, go get your girl. If I were you, I wouldn’t tell her about the other one making her way to the city. It’ll only stress her unnecessarily, but keep your head on a swivel and watch your six.” I won’t lie; I myself know how much I have grown in the last little while, but when he or one of the others speak to me in their jargon, I feel more included than at any other time in my life.
“I will, don’t worry.” I have no interest in seeing Janie ever again, and I damn sure don’t want her anywhere near Elena, but I guess if there was going to be a confrontation, I’d just as well get it over and done with sooner rather than later.
I’m not sure what legal action can be taken against her and her family, if any, and the lawyers don’t seem to think that there is anything that can be done. Mary was the one who had blackmailed Rachel into drugging Elena, and though Janie had been the one to benefit from all their misdeeds, that was not against the law.
There are moments when I imagine doing the most unimaginable things to her and all involved, but it would only lead to me being thrown behind bars and away from Elena, which is not something I’m willing to forfeit for the momentary gratification it would bring me to break Janie’s neck.
I’d left her with nothing, which was about all I could do at this point apart from exposing her for what she had done. Then again, she’d started that ball rolling on her own, and the Internet was still in a feeding frenzy, looking for more information.
I know my house had been staked out for days as well as Elena’s place in New York, which Lyon’s people were doing a good job keeping secure. If I hadn’t had a front-row seat, the allegations that had been flying fast and furiously in the last few days would’ve seemed like something out of a very poorly written fanfiction.
But the fact that only the half of it had been shared with yet more left unsaid was a testament to just how screwed up my life had been in the last five years. When I think about the twists and turns these people had gone through to break us up for their own selfish gain, I find it hard to wrap my head around.
If I hadn’t lived it myself, I’d deny that such a thing was possible. As screwed up as I was with drugs and other messed up childish behavior, a part of me was still the innocent little boy I’d been before being tossed into the limelight, and that boy still saw the best in people and expected everyone to have at least an ounce of goodness in them.
It was a hard pill to swallow, and I was still coming to terms with the fact that I had been betrayed and duped by everyone around me except for Elena. She’d tried her best to warn me and, in the end, got hurt the worst.
I’ve had to revisit my every interaction with these people, at least the ones I can remember, and the shame and regret I felt for falling for their bullshit lies, realizing how gullible and stupid they must have perceived me to be, leaves me feeling both angry and ashamed.
I don’t know how long it’s going to take before I can forgive myself for what I’ve done to her because, at the end of the day, I still hold myself responsible for all of it. I was the only one who owed her anything as I was the one in the relationship with her.
I’m the one who’d made promises to her, so though they were wrong for what they did, it was me who had let it happen. My lack of trust and my screwed-up mentality had caused this. They’d read me every step of the way and used my stupidity against me. I never knew I could hate anyone as much as I now hate those three people.