Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I said nothing. I just laid there, wrapped in his arms, the overhead fan putting a cool breeze of air across our naked bodies. I felt the moment when he stopped waiting for a response and fell asleep, his hands going still and heavy against my body.
It was a wonderful story. Poetic in its portrayal of his life. Endearing. A perfect explanation for the creation of this tortured, confused man. It explained his desperation for love, mixed with a side of insecurity.
Too bad it was all a lie.
I laid in his arms and wondered how many women he had told it to.
Chapter 52 - Brant
In some ways we are so close to everything, to a life in which one starts and the other finishes, a joining so complete that we are one. In other ways...
We are a world apart.
Lies. Lies are what are keeping us at arms. I started this relationship with one lie, a part of my past that I had locked away and hoped she would never find out about. She started this relationship clean and innocent and has piled on the lies ever since.
I want to rid us of all of the lies, to wipe our slate clean with one confession session. But I am terrified to tell her my secret. And I am terrified to hear her tell me hers. I know them, but I don't want them spoken, don't want it to be proven true.
More than hearing the confession, I just want to know why.
Why does she cheat on me?
What do I not provide for her?
What part of me is not good enough?
If her love for me seems fierce enough to singe, why does she sneak around with a stranger?
My biggest fear is that she loves him. My biggest fear is that he has wormed his way into her heart.
I love her too much to share her and I hate him with a vengeance that turns my blood white.
I've had her followed. I met with a private investigator and had him spend a month tailing her. But she was too smart, his report revealing that she had only spent time with me. Now, I have Jillian watching her. She is relentless and will find out anything and everything about the man who holds the love of my life in his hands.
I have been called calculating but I am not cold; I am not unfeeling. My love burns as bright as hers, as does my possession. But my anger, my emotion, doesn't simmer on the surface. It hides in wait for the moment when it needs to erupt.
Chapter 53
3 MONTHS AGO
"You won't marry me."
"Is that a question or a statement?"
"It's the beginning of a question."
“Okay, so finish it."
"I would, if you'd stop talking long enough to let me."
I looked up from the mountain of oranges before me, pausing my quest for one soft enough to eat. I grinned at Brant. "So talk."
He placed a mango in our basket, weaving through the roadside stands until he was closer to me. "You won't marry me, but why aren't we living together?"
Yes, why Layana? I searched my brain for an acceptable answer, other than Lee. I was pretty sure Lee wouldn't agree to fucking my brains out on Brant's bed. Then again, I had my downtown condo, the one that Molly and Marcus didn't break in properly. It deserved a good round of fornication. “Maybe we could do that," I finally said, moving in front of the limes.
Brant pulled at the shoulder of my sweater, stretching the cashmere in a way that shouldn't be done. "Maybe?" He wrapped an arm around my stomach and nipped at the back of my neck before turning me to him. "That's your answer?"
"It's a good answer." I raised onto my tiptoes and kissed him.
"It's a horrible answer," he grumbled, pulling me back when I tried to turn away. "Do you love me?"
I stopped. Setting my basket on the ground, I wrapped my hands around his waist and looked up into his face, the one that I loved more than life itself. "Of course I love you. Don't ever doubt that."
He leaned forward and brushed my lips so softly that I closed my eyes, needing more. "Then move in with me," he whispered. "Live with me in sin."
"That wouldn't be proper," I said.
"Then marry me.” He looked around the market with an exaggerated gesture. "Do you want me to do it? Kneel down right here?" He patted his pockets, pretended to fish for a ring.
"No!" I cried out. "For God's sake, no. I will move in with you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and stole one last kiss.
"You promise?"
"I promise." Then I shrieked as he swooped me up into his arms, our basket tipping over, fruit rolling in all directions. "Brant, what are you doing?"