Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Rafael cocked his head, grinning. “You don’t need to ask what this brother wants either. You know everything, Cloud Girl. Everything about what I do and what I’ve done, and none of that scares you. I’ve found my match. Why would I waste my time with anyone else?”
I was so happy, I thought I’d cry. I dared to glance at Wilder. “Wilder?”
“You’ve yet to pass all the background checks, and there’s still your Royal spy of a fiancé to consider, but I ended it with all of my hookups two days after meeting you.”
“Who are these women!”
He chuckled. “They’re women I stopped thinking about when my head was taken over by you. I’m down to share”—he walked off—“once you win me over, that is.”
“Meaning I haven’t won you yet?” I called after him.
“Send me a few of your videos. That should seal the deal.”
My face lit up. “I told you to stop teasing me with stuff you made up.” I rose out of my seat. “And where are you going?”
“We need that computer. We’re not losing it because we sat around telling you what you should already know.” With that, he walked out the door—abrupt and no-nonsense as ever, but leaving me practically vibrating in my seat. He thought it was a given that he wanted me and the relationship I wanted. Wilder said a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me, but he always said the right thing.
“I wasn’t done,” I muttered. “Though we do need that computer.”
“Not done?” Lucien repeated. “What else do you need to tell us?”
I took a breath, choosing my words carefully. “I’m the only one for you guys... What if it’s not just you guys for me?”
Rafael scoffed. “You mean Victor? We know why you have to go through with this wedding, Luna. We’ve accepted it. It’s up to Victor to accept you, and the boyfriends you come with.”
“I know he does, but it’s not Victor I’m talking about.” I swept over them, and landed on the fridge. I couldn’t look at them while I asked this. “Could you guys be okay with me being with someone outside of our group? Someone other than Victor?”
Cato pressed his cheek against mine. A gesture so sweet shouldn’t come with a snarl so menacing. “Who?”
I can’t say who. I promised I wouldn’t risk the last good thing Adonis has.
I didn’t for a second think the guys would rat us out, but it wasn’t me risking everything and Adonis didn’t know the Rogues. He should decide if they discovered he had unprotected sex in his office with a student. Plus, it wouldn’t be right for anyone to know before Victor did.
Soon, he will know them. I won’t have to keep us secret forever.
“I can’t say. He’s not ready for people to know about us.” I pulled a face. “He’s not ready for there to be an us.”
“Then no.”
“No.”
“Fuck no.”
“What?” I cried. “Why?”
“This guy is an ass,” Rafael said. “Where the hell does he get off treating you like some secret? And he’s not sure he wants to be with you? I’d give my left nut to be with you. You bring this guy around, I’m going to kick his ass.”
“After I do,” Lucien said smoothly.
Cato dropped a lighter on the table. “He will burn.”
My jaw worked. “Guys, you’re so sweet, but—but it’s not like that. It’s... We...”
Rafael’s phone went off. He glanced at the screen and his expression hardened. “It’s him. Cato, let’s go.”
Rafael was up and out of the kitchen before he finished the bark. Cato trailed him out.
“Wilder’s not known for subtlety,” Lucien tossed over his shoulder, leaving as well. “I’ll help him retrieve the laptop.”
I was on my own in the space of fifteen seconds. Sighing, I dropped my head on the table. Explaining Adonis to the guys went about as well as trying to explain the guys to Adonis. There wasn’t much I could do about it then though. Everything depended on the outcome of Adonis’s conversation with Victor.
My phone buzzed. I fished it out of my pocket without lifting my head. “Hello?”
“Luna, what the hell!”
“Good evening to you too, Katie,” I said calmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“What did you do to Gabby? She’s a mess, Luna! She said you attacked and tried to kill her!”
I shot up straight. “That’s a sweet little fantasy she’s spinning! Montana will be the next J. R. R. Tolkien. What actually happened is she started a fight she couldn’t finish. She threw the first hit.”
“She’s got bruises on her neck.”
“You should see what she did to my face.”
There was quiet on the other end of the line. I waited her out.
“So you didn’t say you were going to kill her next?”
I snorted. “What am I? A villain in a children’s book? Why would I tell her I’m going to kill her, let alone that she’s next? There isn’t a first.” I was getting really good at spinning bullshit. “But you should know that while I was beating her ass for slapping me, ripping out my hair, clawing my face, and saying my sister deserved to be driven to suicide—while all that was happening, she threatened me and said to stay away from you. She’s lying to your face to drive a wedge between us.”