Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
I nodded and got into my truck. Easton was already in the room when I got back. I shut the door, about to face him, when he flew at me, his hands flattening on my chest as he smashed me against the door. “What the hell are you doing with my sister?” he spat. His face was beetroot red. I pushed him back, but Easton was a brick wall.
I yanked his arms off me and shoved him against the wall. But he wasn’t finished. “She’s not one of your easy fucks!” he said, hissing. His fist came out and punched me across my face. I tasted blood on my lip. I tightened my hands into his shirt and held him still, anger fueling my words.
“I know she’s not, you prick.” Easton tried to strike me again. I pushed my forearm over his neck, stopping him from moving. “I know she’s not!” I pushed harder, cutting off his breath. “You think I don’t know that? She’s…” The truth made me pause. But when I looked into Easton’s eyes, I said, “She’s everything, East. Fucking everything!”
Easton stilled. I dropped my arm and backed up. Easton was breathing heavily, chest rising and falling. His cheeks were red, but the rest of his skin was pale. His eyes were tiny and rimmed with red. Blood from my lip dripped down my chin.
Easton sagged against the wall, and I looked at him. Really looked at him. Where the colors around him were once bright, a rainbow of neon, now there were only blacks and grays and navy blues.
“She’s gonna die,” he said quietly, and his face contorted in sadness. I could feel the waves of fear pulsing from his body. His eyes fell on me, but I could tell he wasn’t really seeing me. “She’s fought it for so long. But it’s finally giving up. Her heart.” He met my eyes. “She’s gonna die.”
“They might get a heart for her.”
Easton laughed, no humor in his tone. “You know how rare it is for one to become available? The exact match?” I clenched my jaw when I realized I didn’t. Beyond an internet search, I didn’t know anything. Easton slumped down the wall, completely dejected. “Almost never happens.” I sat on the floor too, leaning against my bed. I licked at my lip, tasting nothing but blood.
“Her body will give up soon,” Easton whispered. His eyes were haunted; it was the only way to describe them. He leaned his head against the wall. “She’s had so many surgeries throughout the years.” He shook his head. “I thought she was getting better. I thought…”
“The valve started to fail,” I said, telling him what he no doubt already knew.
“What the hell is the world without Bonnie?” My stomach tensed. Because I wouldn’t even let myself think it. A world without Farraday would be…
I shook my head. “She’s strong.” Easton nodded, but I could see he didn’t believe it. “She is.”
“Bonnie’s strong. But her heart isn’t.” His eyes lost focus. The colors around him deepened even further into darkness. It reminded me of his latest paintings. “She can only be as strong as her heart lets her be.” He sighed and ran his hands down his face. “I knew there was something wrong.” I looked at the unfinished painting on his easel. “I could feel that she was lying. Hiding the truth.” He tapped his head. “Twins.”
“She wanted to be as normal as she could.”
Easton’s eyes narrowed on me. “You hated each other.”
“No. Not really.”
He shook his head. “She’s too fragile.” The spark of anger that always waited, ready to strike, in my stomach flared to life at his words. Because I knew this was him warning me off her. But it was too late. He didn’t understand me, and he sure as hell didn’t understand me and Bonnie. What we shared. “She doesn’t have the strength to deal with your shit.”
“She needs me. Wants me.”
Easton shut his eyes and just breathed.
“She needs you,” I said, and he tensed. Every muscle in his body pulled tight. “She needs you more than ever.”
“I know,” he said after several strained seconds. I leaned back against my bed. A huge, crushing weight seemed to lie on my shoulders. Easton sat in silence for so long I didn’t think he would speak again. Until he whispered, “She can’t die.”
I looked up at Easton, only to see tears fall down his cheeks. My gut clenched, and I felt the same lump I’d been fighting since yesterday block my throat. Easton’s face crumpled. It was one of the first times I’d ever seen him serious. Right now, he was as serious as death.
“She’s my sister. My twin.” He shook his head. “I can’t, Crom. I can’t be without her.”
My eyes blurred, but I got up and sat beside him. Easton’s head fell forward and his body shook as he cried. I clenched my jaw, not knowing what the hell to do. It felt like my stomach was ripping open when I let Easton’s words sink in. “She can’t die…”