Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
And I’m sure it’s a one-way trip to hell, knowing my last living act was to cut out her heart and stomp on it like a drunken bull.
“Adriana,” she whispers as she looks at me.
“What?”
“That’s who’s behind this. It has to be her.”
I rake a hand through my hair as I process what she’s saying. “Adriana Cerva? Meghan’s mother? You think she’s responsible for the cut line?”
It doesn’t add up that a greedy, underhanded clown like her could do something so serious, let alone get aboard unnoticed.
Destiny nods and paces away from me.
The tears are gone, replaced by cold determination and the razor-sharp focus that sets her apart. “I think she was using Meghan as a puppet the whole time. We underestimated her.”
“Dess, she hired Mark, who couldn’t even find a way into the lab without giving himself away. You really think she’d find someone who could breach my ship’s security?”
She frowns. “You saw her, you know how toxic she is. I don’t know how, but I’m sure there’s a motive, and where there’s a will, there’s a way. She could’ve bribed someone again. Crazy, nasty-ass pageant mom. I can’t believe it either, that she might get us killed.” Her steps quicken as she paces, taking advantage of what seems like a break in the yacht lurching up and down hills of water. “All this over money. That’s the sick part.”
It dawns on me then.
“Not money, no. The fact that we’re about to nail her to the wall with Mark caught red-handed. This is self-preservation.” Fuck, I hate that it makes too much sense, even if I don’t know how. “If it’s her, she’s prepared to do anything to save her own skin. Just like she was with her daughter’s brand.”
“Yep. Success has everything to do with money. Her condition for keeping quiet was having Meghan take my place, or a massive payoff from you. And when you found out about Mark and what he did...” She inhales sharply. “Imagine how mad she must’ve been. Psycho enough to do anything.”
I think again about the deflated young influencer sitting at the restaurant table with us.
At the time, I barely registered Meghan. Adriana was always the threat.
But now that I think about it, there was something very wrong with that picture beyond a greedy, overbearing mother. Meghan was hollowed out. Not at all the loud, confident force she is online.
Her mother controlled the situation from the very beginning.
She was the personality, and Meghan was always just a blank slate. A tool Adriana used for success.
The thought makes me sick with fury.
It’s my turn to start pacing, all I can do to refrain from hurling my fists at the walls.
“Oh, God. Adriana wants us dead. I should have listened,” Destiny groans, and there’s such certainty in her voice, I find myself believing her now without question.
“Listened? What do you mean?”
Dess looks up miserably.
“As we were getting on the yacht, Meghan messaged me. She begged me not to go, but she wouldn’t say what or why.” She pulls out her phone and shows me the message.
Meghan never responded.
Maybe her demon mother saw what she’d done and punished her for it.
“She knew,” Destiny says. “She knew, and she tried to stop us...”
Fuck.
“If she had someone trash the fuel lines, they must’ve known the weather, too,” I say, angry that I didn’t see it sooner.
“Of course. She wanted to make sure they’d get us out of the way. No Shepherd, no Destiny, no lawsuit coming down on her head. The only one left would be Hannah, but with the chaos of you being gone...”
Damn.
“She knew my past,” I say, putting it together. “Even if someone figured it out, they’d think it was one of my uncle’s henchmen. Some prick from a long time ago who finally got his revenge.”
It’s too perfect.
“Yeah,” Destiny agrees.
There’s a growling sound against the sides of the ship as the wind reaches highway speeds again.
Over my radio set to the bridge, I can hear Juan and Peter, the younger man, battening everything down and preparing for the worst.
Her nervous eyes meet mine in the darkness.
There’s only Destiny now.
We’re balanced on knife’s edge, precariously close to losing everything.
All thanks to one rotten asshole’s bitterness and meddling.
“She won’t get away with this shit,” I vow.
Dess shakes her head. “You can’t tell me that, Shepherd. Not now.”
Not after everything else, she means.
She doesn’t say it, but she doesn’t need to.
I’ve fucked this all up for her royally.
For both of us.
After trying to muscle her away against my better judgment, I don’t have the stones to take her in my arms and hold her and admit I was wrong.
But now, as her chin comes up and defiance enters her eyes like burning stars, that’s all I want. Even if it’s the last thing I ever do.
Goddammit, she’s too beautiful, and I can’t believe I talked myself into throwing her away.