Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
"Yet. I'm not going to sleep with you yet, Red."
Yeah…that was definitely relief. Because now she's pissed. But she doesn't blow up at me which I honestly probably deserve at this point. Instead, she opens her mouth and then snaps it closed again, pointing toward the curtain.
"Get out of my room."
Retreat is the better part of valor. Alessandro told me that shit. It seems like good advice, especially with her glowering at me, so I decide to heed it.
"I'll be outside while you get dressed," I murmur before quickly ducking through the curtain.
And then I quietly bang my head against the wall, scowling down at my dick.
What the ever-loving fuck just happened in there?
Chapter Four
Nina
The entire way home, I pretend I'm not seated beside the hottest giant I've ever met in my life. At least, I try to pretend I'm not seated beside the hottest giant I've ever met in my life. It's virtually impossible to ignore him when he keeps trying to talk to me.
About halfway to Granite Hills, he finally realizes that I'm not really listening and stops trying to engage me in conversation. I feel a little guilty about that, but honestly. The man told me he wanted me in his bed and then told me that I was going to sleep with him! What did he expect? That I'd wave my panties in the air and tell him to come and get some?
I mean, that's definitely what certain parts of my anatomy want to do. Those parts are traitors. I'm not sleeping with him, even if he is freaking gorgeous. And holy shit. He was hot in his firefighting gear. Without it, he's even better. That smirk and the tattoos covering his arms are weapons of mass panty destruction.
Thanks for nothing, Baby Jesus. He was supposed to be less attractive out of his fire gear.
The world isn't fair, and I'm not playing anymore.
I look like a drowned rat—mostly because I actually almost drowned myself in the freaking bathroom trying to survive a fire. He looks like the world's hottest firefighter.
Rude.
And he isn't just a firefighter. He's an arson investigator. I learned that tidbit when I looked him up while I was being held hostage in the emergency room.
He's the man responsible for finding out that my brother is responsible for the fire. Once he learns the truth, he isn't going to want to sleep with me at all. He's going to want to arrest my brother.
I can't let that happen. Nate is only seventeen. He has a football scholarship waiting for him and an entire future ahead of him. He did something monumentally idiotic out of fear. Was it the right thing to do? Of course not. But I doubt Emmett has ever had mobsters threatening to chop him and his sister into pieces over a debt his deceased dad owes.
I can't let Emmett send him to prison because he's a scared teenager.
He's my responsibility.
And I don't even know where he is right now. I've been trying to call him all night. He isn't answering his phone. None of his friends have seen him. My stomach is tied in freaking knots. Did he get scared and run off? Did my dad's bookies find him?
Was he in the house?
No.
No, he wasn't in the house.
Of course he wasn't. Rationally, I know that he wouldn't have stuck around after he set the stupid fire. But a little voice whispers fear like poison in my ear anyway.
"Um." I clear my throat as Emmett drives into town. "Did you find anything at the house?"
He looks over at me. "Like what?"
I glance down at my lap, gripping my fingers tightly. "I can't get ahold of my brother," I admit, my throat raw. "I d-don't think he was there. He had football practice last night, but…" I trail off, swallowing convulsively. "Did you…?"
Emmett reaches across the console, slipping his hand between mine. I cling to his fingers even though I don't mean to do it. "There was no one else in the house, baby."
I exhale a tiny breath, which comes out as a choked sob. "Are you s-sure?"
"I'm sure, Nina," he says quietly. Confidently. "I walked through every inch of it when it was safe. If your brother was inside, I would have found…"
A shudder rips through me when he doesn't finish that sentence. I know what he leaves unsaid, and the implications are terrifying. He would have found my brother's body.
My eyes flutter closed. But then, all I see is flames. All I hear is the way they roared and the pop and sizzle of everything burning. So I quickly pop them open again, staring out at Granite Hills as the sun creeps over the horizon.
Granite Hills is a small mountain town on the edge of a nature preserve. At least, it's what passes for a mountain town in this part of Texas. It's mostly just a series of small hills, with miles of unincorporated forest, hiking trails, and prime fishing spots stretching between them. A massive wildfire burned through acres of the forested area and parts of town a few months ago, taking the elementary school and several other important businesses with it. Everyone is slowly rebuilding, but the town feels a little less like a haven now than it did then.