Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
I hurry to the door to find him standing far in the distance, near the ocean, where it has to be brutally icy, and he’s not even wearing a coat. Crazy man, I think, baffled by the way he’s disappeared on me. I set the whiskey glass down on the coffee table, hurry to the front door, and slide into my coat before snagging his and the glass.
It’s a decent, biting trek to reach him, and once I’m there, I step in front of him, my back to the water, the crash of waves that follows moments later a reminder of the force of nature we cannot control. Too often, I’ve thought of Kane just that way—a force of nature I cannot control. I’m not sure I ever really want to anymore. Some part of me hungers for that part of him, even needs it.
I stare up at him, the splay of moonlight caressing his handsome features, sharply etched in some dark emotion I do not understand. If he feels the cold, it doesn’t show. His hands are at his sides, fingers curled in his fists. I drop his coat and offer him the whiskey. He reaches for the glass, his hands folding over mine, and for a moment he just stares down at me, but he doesn’t seem to be searching for anything. I think he’s in his own head, processing whatever is going on, the information I’m not privy to, at least not quite yet. But for reasons I cannot explain, I dread what is to follow.
He accepts the glass and downs the amber liquid before stepping around me and hiking the glass as far as he can throw it. I turn to watch it hit the edge of the water, and for long minutes we just stand there, questions rattling at my brain. I’m really confused right now.
“You’ve seen this version of Ghost before,” I assume.
“Yes.”
“Why does that freak you out? You said he changes up his appearance. He just showed us the same version of himself. That feels expected?”
“I told you, he always conceals his features in some way, be it a mask, facial hair and sunglasses, a change of hair color. He keeps a distance, sets meetings at night, and does so in strategic locations. I was never sure who the real him was. None of those versions of Ghost match the sketch Joey drew.”
“Okay I think I follow. You’ve seen the version of Ghost Joey created where?
“In public. I’ve randomly spotted him and the fact that it was several times sits strange to me which I’m certain was the intent. Ghost knew you’d have him sketched again. He knew I’d know I’d seen him in the past and I also know that means he’s been too close for comfort. It was a warning, and an arrogant one at that. He’s telling me he doesn’t care if I see his face. He’s untouchable, and I am not. You are not.”
“It was a message from the Society.”
“Yes. They’re telling us that we might think we have the upper hand, but we do not.”
“You mean Pocher is telling us.”
“No. Pocher is nothing more than a figurehead. He wouldn’t come at us unless the head of that snake told him to do it.”
The degree of over I am with the Society cannot even be measured. I’m done, and the determination to make them done burns inside me, fire that doesn’t need flame but rather a target. I try to step away from Kane, and he captures my arm. “Where are you going?”
“Somewhere I can kill at least one person. More would be preferable.”
“You can’t kill what you cannot see, who you do not know.”
“I might not know this person, but Pocher does. And so, I bet, does my father. I’m confident I can find a way to make them talk, and it’s way past time I stop holding back with them.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
I attempt to step around Kane again, and he captures my shoulders. “Wait. Strategic moves only.”
“Sometimes the most strategic moves involve shock and violence.”
“I don’t disagree, but you don’t run into a snake pit and expect to survive, either. You trick the snakes, trap the snakes, and own the snakes. You know this.”
“We’re the ones getting owned. I’m done with this bullshit. Done.”
“At least talk through this with me. There are implications to the Ghost situation. You need to hear me out.”
“I’m freezing my ass off, so if you want to try to slow me down and calm me down, do it inside. Or do arrogant CEOs who are now mob bosses not get cold?”
“I am not a mob boss, Lilah.”
“If you control them, you own them, right?” I snatch up his coat and shove it at him, the act surprising him into losing his grip just enough for me to extract myself from his hold and step around him, with the house as my destination.