Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
He tries moving his arms, but only jostles in the chair. If he moves anymore, he’ll tip over. He picks his head up and swallows a gasp when he spots his wife on the other side of the table.
Then it all comes back to him.
The way she walked around the corner with the gun.
The way she spoke to him, told him what she’d done to Shavonne and Brynn.
He looks at the object in front of her and it’s his gun.
Her elbows are on the table, the backs of her hands propped beneath her chin. He’d think he were in good hands, but she only stood there as he was attacked, and now she’s staring at him without a single emotion on her face. He can’t tell if she’s angry, sad, or happy even. There’s blood on her upper lip, crusty and dark. And her left eye is swollen shut.
“Jo,” Dominic breathes. “What the hell is going on?” His mouth is dry, and it’s like he’s talking with sandpaper in his mouth.
“Aren’t you going to ask what happened to my eye?” she inquires. She’s still not frowning or smiling.
“W-what happened to it?”
“You struck me,” she replies simply.
He frowns. “I didn’t lay a finger on you.”
“Sure, you did. Maybe not here, or today. But you have.”
He gulps and the saliva is rough going down.
“Jo, let me out of these cords. Right now.”
“No.” She finally drops her hands, and he tenses as she rests one of them on top of his gun. When she brings it up and points the barrel end at him, his heart picks up in speed. “Do you know how hard it is to be a good wife to you?”
He says nothing, just stares at her with paralyzing fear. He’s never seen Jolene like this. She’s always so soft and quiet, never hostile. He’s never seen her with a gun either, yet she holds his as if she’s had a lot of practice with one.
“Jo, whatever this is, we can talk about it, okay? I—I know I should’ve told you about Brynn, but baby . . . I did what I had to do so that I could get the position as governor.”
She tilts her head, lowering the gun just a bit and he sees his soft Jolene, the one with questions in her eyes. The one who loves him.
“Tell me everything,” she demands. “Right now.”
This time, he won’t hide a thing. He’ll tell her anything to lower her guard and get out of this situation.
“You know how I had a meeting with John Bolton in New Orleans a few years ago? Well, he’s close friends with Judge Reba Saxon, and Saxon had major pull in North Carolina back then. I almost didn’t win him over, Jo, but then Brynn came to wait our table while we were out for dinner. She was my waitress that day and John . . . he just went feral over her. Started licking his lips, asking how I knew her. He told me that if I could get him Brynn alone, that he’d talk to Saxon—tell her to endorse my campaign. And you saw what Saxon’s announcement did for me, Jo. It got me the governor’s seat!”
“So you coerced Brynn into all of this?” she asks and she stares at him like he’s the monster. But doesn’t she see? He did this for them.
“No . . . I . . . well, I left her my number, hoping she’d take the bait and she did. She called me that same night and we met up for drinks.”
“Met up for drinks where?” she demands.
“The Galveston Lounge, but that’s all it was, baby. It was just drinks.”
She shakes her head. “You didn’t text me back all night because you were with her?”
“I’m sorry, Jo.”
“So, what? Did you sleep with her that night too?” she snaps.
“No, no! I didn’t do anything with her, I swear to God! I didn’t even kiss her! She wanted to ride with me to John’s rental in Marshview. We had a few more drinks at the house and I wasn’t sure how to make the proposition to her about John. I needed her to willingly do it so that he wouldn’t complain. . . so I put diazepam in her drink.”
Jo’s brows shoot up. “You drugged her?”
“The drugs weren’t mine! I got it from John.”
“So John does this kind of stuff all the time then?” she snaps.
“I—I don’t know.”
“Clearly, he does! Why else would he have drugs like that to just give to you? Jesus, Dominic! These are the men you surround yourself with? Rapists? Liars? No wonder you’re the way that you are!”
“I’m nothing like them, Jo. I’ve never raped anyone,” he grounds out.
“But you did lie.”
His head shakes and he looks away.
“So let me get this straight. You drugged this woman, then let another man take advantage of her. She and her friend came to confront you about it, so you kidnapped her friend and brought her to this shitty cabin to try and hide the truth? What were you even going to do to her? You should be glad I showed up!”