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)
Then that thought led me to think about all the stuff he probably did have to worry about. Big stuff. Huge stuff. Things I would never have to comprehend.
That suddenly made me feel guilty. Who got to go through life without worries? Nobody did.
I took my sneakers off and set them next to his. Then I followed him as we went through a spacious, beautiful living room. The furniture seemed timeless but new. It wasn’t like I knew that much about interior design or trends, but I liked everything.
I spotted a few built-in bookshelves with brass or maybe bronze knickknacks. Delicate crystal things. There were even some gold-plated eggs that had gems in them that looked real. Through an impressive kitchen with pots and pans hooked over the range, sunlight spilled into the area and over late-model appliances. There was even a staircase that wasn’t the same one I’d seen when we had first come in tucked into a back corner.
Upstairs held more dark woods that somehow managed to seem as cheery as the downstairs had. There was a library with potted plants; he pointed at a closed door that he called his office—an office for what, I had no clue, but I really wanted to know. We passed one bedroom after another that had to have been decorated by a professional from how nice they were. There was a huge room with a big bed that I’d bet had to be his from the way he stood at the doorway and sighed, blocking me from looking in.
So this was where he lived.
I hadn’t seen that shit coming.
A brush at my elbow had me glancing toward the blonde woman right behind me, Leon just to her side. She tipped her head toward the hallway with a small, sweet smile that made my chest feel okay. I couldn’t kick the feeling that something about her seemed really, really familiar.
Was she related to Alex too?
We backed out and headed in the direction we’d come. They stopped in front of a room down the hall beside the epic library I was already hoping I could snoop around in at some point.
“If you want to shower and settle in, we can stick a couple pizzas in the oven,” Selene said, her sky-blue eyes crinkling. What was with these people and their amazing eyeballs?
I nodded and then hesitated, patting the sleep pants I hadn’t mustered up any embarrassment over at any of the gas stations we’d stopped at. Someone had covered me with a clean hoodie at some point, and I’d put it on, but… “I don’t have any clothes. Is there anything I can borrow?”
She nodded, and I purposely focused on her instead of the one who looked almost too much like Alex. “I’ll find something, and tomorrow, I’ll see what else we can do.”
“Whatever you can get me. I don’t mean to be an inconvenience,” I agreed, giving her my best smile and trying not to feel awkward about having to rely on her generosity.
Her smile was bright and warm. “You’re not.”
“I need to leave, but Selene is gonna stay,” Leon said, finally giving me a reason to glance in his direction.
He had his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his eyes set on me like he was inspecting me. Not mean, not judgy, just curiously. And if he knew about the Atraxia thing, that would explain it. It was obvious he knew about Alex, so why wouldn’t he know about me?
Speaking of him, Alex wasn’t necessarily better looking, but I liked the shape of his face more than his maybe-brother’s.
I wasn’t sure why the hell I thought about that randomly.
“Thank you both for everything. For coming to get us, for driving us… everything. If there’s something I can do to help, please tell me,” I offered, even though I didn’t know what I could give them or much less what I could do. My pride made me try though.
They’d gone above and beyond for a stranger. For me. These special people whose presence made my skin tingle on a lower scale than Alex’s did.
Why hadn’t my grandpa told me about his mom and where she’d come from? I wondered again, wishing so much I could ask him.
As if sensing my mind was on other things, they both gave me these watchful smiles before turning toward the staircase and disappearing downstairs.
They were at least a little like Alex. I could just feel it. How they were related to him though, I didn’t know for sure yet.
I headed into the bedroom that was heavy with blue accents as I thought about whether or not he would tell me more about his family. The room was pretty. The prettiest room I’d ever been in. A queen-sized bed sat up against the back wall with a beautiful but simple headboard. There was an opened door that led into a bathroom two times bigger than any bedroom I’d ever had. The shower stall had an intricate tile pattern, but it was the claw-foot tub next to it that stole my attention.