Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“Convince her,” he demands.
“She’d be safer there,” I admit. As it is, I feel like I’m going out of my mind every hour she’s here. Between the constant concern for her safety and the way everything she does turns me on, it’s a wonder I’m able to think at all.
“I’ll look for an alternative but that might be the best thing for her to do. Even if it’s just temporary,” he warns.
A temporary prison is still a prison. I know that better than anyone. “Call me when you have something.”
I hang up and blow out a breath. Storm clouds are gathering overhead again, and I inhale the humid air. There has to be an answer, a way to keep her safe and set her free. I just have to find it.
Brooke
“I don’t want to be sent away,” I tell Ryker.
He turns from where he’s standing on the porch. I think I actually managed to sneak up on him this time. He was so into his conversation that he didn’t pay attention when I came through the front door. I only needed a rinse-off shower to get the sticky, humid air off my skin.
“I know.” He rubs the back of his neck but doesn’t agree not to.
“I can’t be locked in the tower anymore,” I whisper.
He whirls around and crosses the porch. He’s standing next to me, towering over me. But I don’t feel scared the way I do of my father’s big, brutish men. I just feel sheltered with him next to me. “Fuck, Brooke. Keeping you safe is the most important thing in the world to me. Maybe you stay out of sight for just a few months. It doesn’t mean you’re locked away.”
I know that I should do what he and his friends are saying. But something tells me that once I go into hiding, I won’t get out. I have to make him see this. I turn around and tug up the back of my shirt. I pull it until the small of my back is exposed.
I hear his sharp inhale the moment he sees the marred, burned flesh on my back. “You were branded? What the fuck?”
“Lionel Lancaster’s symbol is the lion,” I explain. It’s not terribly clever but then again, even criminals need to have a logo. Something that strikes fear into the hearts of their rivals. “I was ten. He branded my stepbrothers and me.”
“He’s a fuckin’ psycho.” There’s no disguising the rage in his voice.
I drop my shirt, letting it cover me again. But I still don’t turn to him. I don’t want to read the emotions on his face. “They cried and pleaded for him to stop. I didn’t. I knew better. That’s why he chose me as the heir to his empire. He wanted someone he thought was strong.” If I’d known the fate that awaited me, maybe I would have cried. Maybe I would have pleaded.
“I don’t care if I die. I just can’t go back to being a prisoner.” With a deep breath, I finally turn to him. I keep my eyes on the floorboards. I don’t want to know what awaits me in his gaze. Now he knows that I chose this. I chose to become a monster, even if I didn’t mean to.
I wait for him to say something and after a long moment of silence, I finally force myself to look at him. I’ve grown up surrounded by the worst criminals and I’ve never feared their judgment. But this man right here? He has the power to break me, and I don’t even think he knows it.
He steps closer and brushes a strand of damp hair from my face. “I’ll never let something like that happen to you again.”
His leather wrist cuffs are cool against my warm cheek. I lean into his touch as the thunder rolls overhead. The storms are starting again. But I don’t want to move from this spot. I’d stand here for a lifetime just to feel his big, rough hand cupping my face, making me feel delicate and precious. “It’s one of the better-looking scars from him.”
Something flickers across his face. Tenderness and sadness, two emotions that I don’t quite understand. Two emotions that he feels for me. His breath is warm as he whispers, “You’re my guardian angel.”
I’d be anything this man wants me to be. “How is that possible?”
“My last mission went sideways,” he explains. “About half the unit was captured by rebel forces. I was one of them.”
I suck in a breath as the horror sweeps through me. I understand now what I saw on his wrists. He was held captive and I can’t begin to imagine what he went through. “Ryker…”
“There was a day or maybe it was a night. Hell, I don’t know. Time loses all sense of meaning when you’re in that kind of situation. I didn’t think I was going to make it, and then you were there. In the middle of the cell. Telling me I had to live. That you needed me. I made it out because of you, so trust me when I say that I’m not letting anyone get to you. You were my angel when I needed one, and now I’ll be your warrior.”