Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“I should be okay.”
“You better hope she doesn’t tell Nico about this,” Miles sighs.
“You two can handle him for me.” I call over my shoulder as head for the door.
When I arrive upstairs a few minutes later, silence greets me as soon as I get inside. Going to the kitchen I toss the glasses Naomie had out into the dishwasher then dump out what is left from the wine bottle. After shutting off all the lights, I go to the bedroom door and listen for a minute before I unlock and slowly open it. The overhead light is on so I can clearly see Willow laying on the side of the bed that she’s claimed as hers and know in an instant that she is asleep. I can also see that she had been crying, which makes my insides twist painfully.
Shutting off the light, I walk to the bed and strip out of my clothes before I lay down and toss the blanket over the two of us. With my temper settled but my mind still reeling from what I learned this evening and what I know I’m going to face the second Willow wakes up, I put my hands behind my head and focus on the sound of her steady breathing. The reminder that she’s okay, that she’s here with me.
What I don’t do is sleep.
I’m not sure what time it is when I know she’s woken up, but the second she moves to get out of bed, I grab her by the wrist.
“Let me go!” she screams, trying to tug free.
“Calm down. We need to talk.”
“Screw you.” She kicks and tries to pull away. Not wanting her to hurt herself, I quickly roll onto her, placing my weight against her body and lifting her arms above her head.
“Listen to me, Mouse.”
“Never!” she hisses, writhing under me, trying to get free.
“I fucked up.”
“Yeah, I know!” she yells in my face before she tries to headbutt me.
“Jesus, Willow, calm the fuck down.”
“No, let me go,” she pants, and I do the only thing I can think of. I kiss her and in an instant her body under mine stills and she kisses me back. Then in the next second she stiffens and bites my lip so hard I taste blood.
“Fuck.”
“Get. Off. Me.”
“Not until you listen to me.”
“Fine,” she whimpers, as tears fill her eyes. “What? What do you want to tell me, since I don’t have a choice but to listen to you?”
“Please, don’t cry.”
“Do you think I want to cry?” Her chin wobbles. “I don’t. I hate that I’m so weak that I can’t get away from you even when I want to.”
Closing my eyes, I drop my forehead to hers. “Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll let you go, but you have to promise to hear me out before you leave me.”
“Fine,” she whispers back, and after a second of hesitation, I release my hold on her wrist then sit up on my knees.
As she scrambles away from me and off the bed, I watch with my muscles on fire ready to chase her down if need be.
“Talk!”
My heart starts to pound as I look into her eyes, because I know after I admit my truths, I might not ever see her again.
“My parents were both druggies, the two of them were in and out of jail so often, I don’t have many memories with them before I went into the system at nine. After I was taken from their custody, I bounced around from house to house, because no one wanted an older kid and especially not one with issues.” She holds my gaze. “I moved in with the Patrick’s when I was twelve. They were good people, but they had a family of their own and we all knew that we were not apart of their family.” My jaw twitches. “When I was thirteen the Patrick’s got me a job at a steak house, washing dishes because they thought that a little responsibility would be good for me.
“Is there a point to this?” She bites out and I can’t even fault her for being so angry.
“When I started working there, I met Albert, the owner, and after a few months he took a special interest in me. He had multiple businesses all over Denver, and before long I was going everywhere with him. And as a kid who never had an adult looking out for him before, I soaked up every word he said and thought that he cared about me.” I watch her swallow. “I had no idea how wrong I was about him until it was too late.” My hands ball into fist. “By that point in my life I was so used to being mistreated and used by the people in my life that were supposed to look out for me, that I didn’t fucking say a word. Or maybe I thought no one would believe me even if I did.”