Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I glance over the documents in front of me. Documents for Tor Pearson. My eyes slowly move to his, and I search his face for something...anything. Why would he give me his surname?
“Caleb will take you to the airport.” He shifts, his leg brushing against mine. “I’ve arranged for you to have an apartment, or flat, whatever the fuck you call them, and you’ll have enough money in an account to take care of you for”—his eyes flick up to mine and I notice him swallow—“for a very long time.”
I start to say something but he keeps going, very matter-of-factly, without any emotion. “You must not contact your sister. I’m sorry. You are dead, remember that, because the moment Victoria Deveaux is found to be alive, you will be murdered.” He swallows heavily. “And the thought of that kills me.”
I swallow back my tears, shutting out the little voice in my head that is begging me to take it back, to never leave him. “Thank you.” I can’t seem to muster the appropriate emotion over this. I just feel...numb, cold.
Jude sweeps my hair away from my neck and I feel him place something around it. I glance down to find a necklace with a hummingbird, much like the one I had when I came here, but it’s much more elegant, with emeralds set in the wings. “It was my mother’s,” he says, adjusting it.
I swallow the lump in my throat as tears blur my vision. It’s a small action, one that says a thousand words.
He rises from the bed and I think he’s just going to leave me here like this, but he comes in front of me and kneels. Resting his hands on my knees, he glances up at me, holding my gaze. “I am sorry.”
And with that he leaves me.
I stand at the door, my jaw clenched, my hands shoved in my pockets. I hear her and Caleb coming down the hallway and I inhale, closing my eyes momentarily.
When I open them, I see her walking toward me with a duffel bag hung over her shoulder. Everything she now has fits in that small bag. She has nothing, she has no one. She is leaving the only thing she had left—a fucked up life with the man who destroyed her. Her bloodshot eyes make it apparent she’s been crying, and that makes me feel even fucking worse. She glances at me, unable to hold my gaze. She doesn’t even acknowledge me when she walks past me and steps onto the porch.
Caleb reaches for the door and I grab him. “You watch her get on that plane, do you hear me? You watch it fucking take off.”
He nods, but looks utterly pissed at me. “You shouldn’t let her leave, Jude.”
“She wants to. I don’t own her.”
“She’s not safe.”
I shake my head. “She’s safer away from me than with me.”
He shakes his head again, his face growing red. “You’re fucking up.”
I look away because I know he’s right, but I won’t admit it.
He shoots an annoyed look at me as he walks onto the porch, the door banging closed behind him. I watch as he wraps his arm around Tor and leads her down the stairs.
I lean my arm against the door and inhale when I see Tor climb into the car. I press my lips together, my nostrils flaring. Why the fuck can’t I make this work? Why am I letting her leave? Caleb shakes his head as he opens the driver’s side door. The pressure in my chest builds. Just stop them. Go get her. My breathing grows ragged, my fingers pulling into my fists. It would be selfish to stop her. She doesn’t fucking belong with me.
Caleb glares up at me as he backs out of the drive. He’s pissed, but there’s no way he could understand any of this. I’m not going to lie, watching her leave and knowing she’s not coming back fucking hurts. My heart thumps hard in my chest, heat spreads all over me. I just let her leave, hurt and destroyed. Every muscle tightens, and my jaw ticks. The car disappears. “Fuck!” I shout as I slam my palm against the glass door.
I slowly walk down the hallway, lightly pounding my fist along the wall. I know if she had stayed here, she would have grown to hate me. I’d rather let her go now than have her one day realize that I embody everything that she hates. I can’t process shit right now, I don’t like the unsettled feeling consuming me. I need a distraction. Anything. I head to my office and sit in a daze.
Leaning over my desk, I stare at the wall. My gaze darts around the room and every damn thing reminds me of her. I stand and pace, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck. I realize I will never get her out of my fucking head. I take my arm and rake everything off the desk, my chest heaving. There is not one damn thing I can do to change this, and I can’t stand it. I grab the chair and smash it against the wall. I fucked up.