Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 142801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“Except where you want me to lie.”
“Yes.” His voice is clipped. All business.
“What is it that makes you want to grind Mitchell’s nose into the dust so bad?”
“You say that like you find it unappealing.” At the mention of Mitchell’s name, he rakes a hand through his hair, leaving a wave of dark furrows. “For God’s sake, Eve, we should be united—Mitchell Atherton fucked us both.”
“My revenge is to move on and live my life well,” I choke out, shocked by his sudden vehemence.
“You call living in a house shared with strangers, waiting until that bastard feels like giving back your belongings ‘living well’?”
“None of this has anything to do with you.”
“Fifty thousand, and I’ll pay for the beagle’s ACL repair, plus the surgery of any other needy animal.” I open my mouth, but he cuts me off. “And medical bills for any and all animals admitted to the sanctuary for the next twelve months.”
“It’s still bribery.”
“I don’t know whether to commend or pity you for your convictions.” He slides his phone from his pocket, throwing it to me without warning. I grab it, instinct taking over for logic, because I should’ve let it tumble to the floor.
“What’s this?”
“Look at it.”
I glance down—a mistake—the screen reacting to the accidental brush of my thumb. Shock immediately twists under my breastbone at a flash of Mitchell’s face and a heading that seems somehow familiar. A Little Bird. “No.” I thrust out my arm. “I don’t want to.”
“Come now, Eve. Willful ignorance never helped anyone.”
Chapter 15
EVIE
A Little Bird Told Us . . .
What the flock!
The cheating groom of the Pulse Tok Shoreditch saga is none other than Mitchell Atherton, a contestant of the 2015 dating show Millionaire Mates!
Posh boy Mitchell, now a London-based property developer, was voted out of the house in the fourth episode after he was caught kissing one of the film crew.
A Little Bird thinks she can spot a pattern!
We’d love confirmation as the groom that wasn’t has gone to ground and our runaway bride, Evelyn Fairfax, a veterinarian working at a swanky Knightsbridge clinic, has disappeared.
Come on, London, help us find them!
“What the hell?” Less demand and more plea. I glance up to find Oliver’s expression impassive. “They used my name.” I swallow over another wave of nausea. “I didn’t agree to this.”
“Freedom of the press means they don’t need you to. I wonder how long it will be before a new column is out. One that mentions a mystery man in a Bentley.”
“What?” A thorn wedges itself in my sternum.
“They not only know your name; they also know where you work. Perhaps she saw me follow you.”
“Stop. Just stop.”
Help us find them. That sounds almost threatening. Why do they want to speak to me? To humiliate me all over again?
“I can protect you. No one will find you at the hotel.”
“This plays so well into your plans, doesn’t it?”
“If only I were that imaginative,” he adds witheringly. “I didn’t contact the press, Eve. But I am offering you your visa and fifty thousand pounds for the sanctuary to soothe your scruples. In exchange for three months of your time.” His attention flicks down to his watch. “You have two minutes to decide. London or Connecticut. A legitimate visa or a nasty visit from immigration.”
Frustration bubbles inside me. One minute, he’s shielding me from the rain, forcing me to wear his coat—helping Nora! And now this . . . this is blackmail!
He would do this to me?
My gaze slices his way, and understanding washes over me like frigid water, waking me up.
And I realize, yes. Yes, he would.
Chapter 16
EVIE
A Little Bird Told Us.
A little bird, my ass. That thing is more like an albatross, something bigmouthed and with the propensity to shit on your head.
“Are you listening to me?”
“What?” Rain lashes against the car window as I turn to Oliver. “Yeah, I’m all ears.” All ears, annoyance, and anxiety.
“So you’ll move in. Today, preferably.”
“What’s the hurry?” Not that I have any real problem moving into his hotel. I guess it means I won’t have to hear Lori whine about the press when they turn up.
After reading the stupid A Little Bird column, I went back and read the previous ones. Then I googled the dating show Mitch had taken part in. I still don’t know what to think about that, except that it’s just another level of bullshit, and it adds another level of disbelief that I almost made it to the altar with that man.
I didn’t touch the other articles, blogs, and mentions because I already felt like the media and the internet had chosen to evacuate their bowels on my head. I never wanted to be famous, but I think it might beat infamy, hands down.
“You’re not listening. Again.”
“I am!”
“What did I say?”
“Something about . . .”
“I said we have a very short timeline in which to achieve our aims.”