Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
We’d survived this with each other’s help. We had almost died together, or at least I had.
I owed him. I owed him big-time. Especially more after this.
I tucked my forehead into his neck, closed my fingers to grip the clean sweater he’d put on, and let out an exhale so shaky that I was pretty sure a bone might have rattled itself loose somewhere in my chest.
“No one is going to get you,” he said straight into my ear, his voice that low grumble.
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe him so bad.
One hand slid off my back, and the next thing I knew, he was gently prying the knife away. I let him. And he was still holding me, hugging me, as he slipped it back into my pocket and gave it a pat. He dropped his voice again and said so quietly I barely heard him, “You’re safe.”
My limbs locked up.
“Say it.”
I swallowed the knot I hadn’t even realized had formed in my throat. “I’m safe,” I muttered, my voice raspy and low.
His breath brushed my ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I didn’t even mean to, but I balled up his sweater in my hand.
“Say it, Gracie.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I said it, “You won’t let anything happen to me.”
He hugged me closer. Even tighter. I’d be a lying son of a bitch if I didn’t admit that it touched me more than anything else he’d ever done.
Plus, this wasn’t about me. This was about him. He was back with his… whatever they were. He’d recuperated, or at least mostly. This whole experience had been something for him too—his injury, his weakness.
It was that, that was enough for me. That had me taking a step back to give him some space, and I lifted my chin. I focused on the strangers, telling myself that everything was going to be okay. That I was safe, at least for the time being.
I made myself focus on the bigger one first.
Even in the night, I could tell his hair was short, thick, and dark. His cheekbones were sharp, lips full. He was handsome.
And I mean very, very handsome.
So handsome it took me a second to realize he looked almost identical to Captain Not-So Crabby Pants over here.
The corners of the man’s mouth twitched, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead, just as I held out my shaky hand. He took it instantly. His palm was cool too, just like Alex’s.
“Hey,” he said, that twitch of his mouth turning into a straight-up smile. “Leon.”
I looked back and forth between Alexander and this Leon person, realizing they were… were they fraternal twins? Just enough was different about them to not be identical, but it was close. Really, really close.
What the hell?
“Hi,” I greeted him back, suddenly feeling shy—and still cautious no matter what anybody said—as I pulled my hand away and fought the urge to palm the knife again.
“I’m Selene,” the voice to my left spoke up, pulling my attention toward the woman just an inch or two shorter than Alexander. Her hair was a lighter color, maybe blonde, and she was really pretty.
Her hand was already extended.
I took it too and said, all shy, “Hi.”
A huff had me snapping my head toward Alex, who… why the hell was he side-eyeing me like that for?
“What?” I blurted out like I hadn’t just been on the verge of hiding behind his indestructible ass.
The son of a bitch smirked. “That’s all you have? ‘Hi’? After you were ready to gut them?”
Oh hell. “I wasn’t ready to ‘gut’ anyone. I just wanted to… protect myself. Protect you,” I hissed at him in a whisper, embarrassed. To be fair, I was ready to shank people, but he didn’t need to say anything about it. He knew what we’d been through. They didn’t. “Just in case,” I insisted, barely loud enough for him to hear.
He didn’t believe me. “We talked about this already.”
“We did, and remember what I said about trust issues?” I asked.
That got me a sigh before he shook his head and focused on Selene and his almost doppelgänger, Leon.
Who were these people?
“Can we go?” he asked them. “We’ve got a long drive.”
Long drive? How long?
It didn’t matter, did it?
This was the start of the next phase in my life.
Homeless. Penniless. Exposed.
But it was a new chapter. Maybe even a new book.
I had no idea where we were going, and I couldn’t find the right time to ask.
We’d been in the car for hours, and I’d spent most of the time staring out the window pretending to think… but really, I was listening.
Alex had caught everyone off guard when he’d gotten into the back passenger seat. I’d seen their faces; I knew they hadn’t expected it. I got into the back seat before either of them beat me to it. The man named Leon shot the woman a look, and they’d both smiled before she got behind the wheel and he took the front passenger seat.