Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Yet there’s a wobbliness between us. I don’t know if it’s my doing—my fear that somehow, he’ll want to back away from me—or if it’s a true gut reaction that something is amiss.
I want to find my spot here. I want to blend in with the others and share their jokes. Of course, I do. This is all I’ve ever wanted.
They are warm—Reid excluded. Inviting. Kind. Rory turns me loose in her kitchen to look for her serving spoons, something many women won’t allow. And the fact that she accepts me into her fold and the rest of them makes my nerves even worse. Not to mention her ability to mom hug like a champion. I’ve missed those. A lot. Imagine getting them regularly. Yes, please.
Ugh, why does that make me emotional?
And why do emotions have to be so hard to navigate?
“Rory, may I use your powder room?” I ask.
“Of course. It’s down the hall. The fourth door on your right.”
“Thank you.”
I need to settle down. To catch my breath.
I slip into the hallway and count doors, blatantly ignoring the vases and gold candlesticks. My steps tap against the stone floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. I reach for the handle but stop when I hear my name.
“Blakely.”
Coming toward me is Reid. I have no idea where he came from, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s approaching me with a look of displeasure in his eyes.
I gulp. “I was just going to use the powder room.”
“Why don’t you step into my office for a second?” He opens the door across the hall. “I’ll only take a few moments of your time.”
My heart pounds at an alarming rate. Do I go in there and talk to him? Logic says it can’t hurt anything … but my gut says otherwise.
Still, I find myself walking into a room with a giant stately desk and bookshelves lining the walls.
“Do you want to sit?” he asks, placing his drink on top of a stack of folders.
“No. You said it would only take a second.”
He moseys around the room. I think he’s trying to make me relax, but all it does is put me on edge. I feel my heart beating in my throat. I have to override the screaming inside my head telling me to leave.
No, I’m going to make a good impression. The door is open behind me. I can leave anytime I want.
“What can I help you with, Reid?” I ask. Renn—please come find me.
“Can I trust that you will keep this conversation between us?”
“That depends on what it’s about.”
He chuckles angrily. He stops walking and faces me, his jaw set. “What will it take to get you out of Renn’s life?”
My mouth falls open.
I shiver as cold chills snake down my spine.
“My son may be dim-witted, but I’m not,” Reid says. “How much will it take to make you go away?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Brewer. I don’t understand.”
“Cut the shit, Blakely.”
What? “Don’t talk to me like that.”
He plants his hands on the desk with a loud thud. His eyes are narrowed, the pupils nearly slits.
“I’ve been at this game longer than you have,” he says. “I know what little whores want when they come around. I can see them from a mile away.”
His words catch me so off guard that I fail to respond.
“Name your price,” he says. “How much are you after? Quarter million. Half? Give me a number.”
I draw in a breath and gather my wits. “You think I want money from you?”
“Don’t play the damsel in distress card, girl. It isn’t cute.”
“What’s not cute is this arrogant, disrespectful, abhorrent language you’re using with me. I don’t know where you get off thinking you can insult me like this, but—”
“Because I’m Reid Brewer. I can get away with anything I want.”
I stand taller, meeting his gaze and refusing to blink. “I don’t give a fuck who you are.”
“So what do you think, then?” he asks, smirking. “Do you think you can get my son all liquored up, marry you, and then—what? What’s the endgame? Convince him that you’re the one? To start a family with you? To let you be a part of this empire that I have created?” He laughs like I’m a joke. “Think again.”
“I don’t want a damn thing from you—”
“Of course, you do. It’s mine. It’s all mine. And I’m not about to allow some little whore with a nice ass and great tits swindle my son out of his future.”
The shock is gone. Rage settles in.
“You are a disgusting excuse for a man.”
“You didn’t sign a prenup. Explain that.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
He storms around the corner of his desk, stopping inches from my face. Liquor is hot on his breath, and he breathes down like a demented dragon.
I want to run out of the room. I want to run into Renn’s arms and beg him to take me home. But I don’t want to give this asshole the pleasure of thinking he hurt me … and, this is Renn’s home. How is Rory married to this egotistical monster?