Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Yes. That’s why I confronted my father with the secrets my grandmother told me about. But I was young and stupid, and I couldn’t see how many moves ahead of me he was.”
“I can’t imagine you ever being stupid, Carter.”
“I was so sure of my power. My friends and I ruled our school, and I thought I was hot shit.”
I grinned. “I bet you were, and I bet I would have loved forcing your surrender back then, watching you break, knowing the powerful rich boy was mine to command.”
Carter shook his head. “Why the fuck does that sound hot?”
“There’s nothing I can imagine with you that isn’t.”
He tilted his head as if considering that statement. “I guess you’re right.”
“See? I told you you’d let me do anything I wanted.”
“And I told you I do have limits.”
“But they don’t’ involve anything I truly want.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
“My friends think I joined the navy voluntarily, that I decided to leave.”
“But you didn’t.” It wasn’t a question. I could see the misery in his eyes. “What happened, Carter?”
“I confronted my father. I told him what I knew, thinking he’d be shocked, thinking—so stupidly—that maybe he would see me differently then. Why the hell I still wanted his approval after all that time I don’t know.”
I brushed a finger over his cheek. “He’s your father, baby. It’s hard to accept that parents don’t care. Trust me, I know.”
“Will you tell me?”
“Later. Right now, I’m here to listen to you.”
I waited for him to speak, watching as he breathed deep, his chest rising, then falling with an audible exhale. I wanted to take the pain away from him, but I knew I couldn’t. I would help him eventually, though, no matter the risk.
“My father laughed at me. He already knew. My uncle’s untimely death hadn’t been an accident. My father might not have been able to biologically father children, but he had a son who looked like him and he could mold Landon in his own image. He would not risk letting go of him. He told me one son was enough. He was done putting up with me since I would never be the kind of son he wanted. I wasn’t part of his family, so I’d never counted anyway.”
“What a sick fuck. I want to destroy him.”
“You and me both. Everything my father does is sick and twisted.”
“What does his company really do?”
“I’ll tell you that later, let me finish this sad fucking story first.”
I nodded. “Go ahead, baby.”
“My father cut me off financially. He ordered me to join the navy, told me if I didn’t, he’d be sure I met with an accident like my uncle had. He didn’t allow me access to any of his money. I had a small amount of money from my grandmother, but most of what she’d left me was inaccessible until I turned twenty-five. I considered running, taking the risk that he’d hunt me down.”
“You could have gone to one of your friends. They would have helped you.”
“Then they would have been in danger. I would never do that.”
I sighed. “Of course you wouldn’t, no matter how much they wanted to help or how much you needed it.”
“I decided the navy was a perfect place for me to put all my anger and frustration to use.”
I grinned. “I felt the same way. I knew I was fucking dangerous. It was a way to use my talents mostly legally.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Trust you to be sanctioned as a weapon and still find ways you needed to break the rules.”
I shrugged. “I’m not a rule follower. I never will be.”
“Good.”
“Now tell me what your family has done, and don’t worry. My parents were thieves and con artists, so we both come from criminal stock.”
“I wish all my family had done was steal. They’ve done far worse, things that make me sick to talk about.”
Carter told me how they were involved in treating undocumented immigrants like slave labor and about their human trafficking ring. I felt as sick as he looked by the time he was done. I pulled him into my arms and held him.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. I wish…I wish I could take all this away from you.”
“I…let’s not talk about them anymore, okay?”
“Okay, but once you had access to all the money your grandmother left you, couldn’t you have gone back to New York?”
“You know how much I wanted to be a hero, and I really didn’t want to use the money. I loved my grandmother, and I’m glad she provided for me, but I know how that money was earned. My grandfather was no better than my father. Our money had been dirty for generations.”
I huffed. “You’re so fucking stubborn.”
“Wasn’t that why you first pursued me? Because I wasn’t falling all over you, because I acted like I wasn’t interested, unlike all those boys in the bars.”