Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“I still can’t believe Adele didn’t tell me her suspicions. We always promised there’d never be secrets or lies between us. She betrayed both of us.”
“She obviously didn’t want to lose you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t even hint at it.” He didn’t seem angered by that, just confused.
Mila shrugged. “There would have been no point. Mostly because Adele might not have been meant for you, but she’s it for you. Just like you’re it for her.”
He snorted, pain flashing across his face. “If that were true, she wouldn’t have been meeting her true mate in secret, would she?”
“She didn’t choose him, though,” Mila pointed out, marveling over how it didn’t feel odd to be pushing her predestined mate toward another female. “Dean tried convincing her to leave you, but she didn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean it was okay that she had coffee with him a few times and that they called each other regularly.” Joel shoved a hand through his hair. “She said she was just curious about him, which I guess is understandable. But she’s refusing to cut all contact with him, since she doesn’t truly believe he put you in danger. She figures that if I can be friends with you, she can at least have indirect contact with her true mate.”
Mila suspected that Adele was hoping Joel would offer to sever his friendship with Mila in exchange for Adele’s promise to cut contact with Dean.
Joel licked his lips and took a deep breath. “I just want you to know that I never wanted to hurt you. And I’m so, so sorry that I did. I should have seen that you were mine—”
“I’m not yours,” Mila said quickly, splaying a hand on Dominic’s back when he prepared to protest Joel’s words. “I might have been yours, if things had been different. But they’re not.”
Joel nodded. “Still, I should have seen it. And it must have been hard for you that I could be so close to you yet be blind to it. Which is why I just wanted to say that I do see it now. In your position, I’d want that acknowledgment, if nothing else.”
“Thank you for that, but it really doesn’t matter now. We both made our choices.”
“Whether it means anything to you or not, I’m still sorry. It cuts me deeply to know that by pushing for friendship, I was hurting you all this time.”
“Apology accepted.”
“And you’re happy?” he asked her, sliding a meaningful glance at Dominic.
“I’m happy,” said Mila. “I have no regrets about how things have turned out. And if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit that neither do you. You’re hurting, but you love Adele. Imprint bonds can be broken, Joel. Don’t let that happen.”
He swallowed. “I can feel a strain on the imprint bond. Like it could start crumbling any second.”
“You don’t want that. You’re angry with her, but you wouldn’t want to be without her.”
“It’s just hard to—” He cut off, his muscles tensing. And then she heard the snick of a gun.
“Do not move,” a new voice snarled.
Mila fisted her hands as a burly bearded male came into sight, shaggy-brown hair down to his shoulders. It didn’t matter that those eyes were dark blue—she knew them. Knew the beard was as fake as the color of the contact lenses and the wig that covered the dark hair she’d trimmed many times. He was also wearing padding to make his figure seem bulkier.
None of that held her attention, though.
She was more concerned with his hands. He wasn’t holding a gun. He was holding two, and both were outfitted with silencers. One was pointed at Joel, and the other was trained on Dominic. Mila’s claws sliced out, and her seething cat let out a loud guttural hiss that rang in Mila’s ears.
“Motherfucker,” spat Dominic as a menacing intensity gathered around him like a cloak.
Dean inclined his head. “Yeah, I figured you’d feel that way about me.”
“Hello, Dean,” said Mila, somehow keeping her voice calm even while panic tightened her muscles and poured down her throat, leaving a sour taste on her tongue. Her heart was pounding with a thick, insidious, all-consuming dread.
She now had a little taste of how Dominic must have felt seeing Rosemary pointing a gun at her. Terrified. Powerless. Enraged.
Unlike Rosemary, Dean’s hands were steady as he aimed those guns, and she could see he’d be perfectly comfortable using them. Knew he’d shoot Dominic without blinking, and he’d think nothing of it. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Adrenaline pumped through Mila, feeding her cat’s need to act. Lunge. Maim. “You know, Adele doesn’t believe you could possibly be the person who put a price on my head, but I think it’s safe to say that her faith in you is somewhat misplaced.”
A muscle in Dean’s cheek ticked. “My original plan was to make a deal with you, you know. I thought the two of us could somehow conspire to separate Adele and Joel. But I quickly sensed that you wouldn’t go for that, so I improvised.”