Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Appreciate that,” he murmurs, his voice husky and low. “I’m sorry, too, Briella. I should have listened, even if what you thought wasn’t the same as what I was thinkin’ I owed it to you to hear you, and I didn’t.”
“I appreciate it,” I say softly. “I want the past to be left where it belongs, in the past. I don’t want things to follow us forever. This club, you, you’re the only family I have left, and I don’t want to risk any of it.”
“You’ll always be family, and we’ll always have your back. You never have to worry about that.”
“I know,” I say softly. “And I’m sorry about King, I should have come back when I heard he died, but I didn’t. I was scared and stubborn, and ... it wasn’t right. You deserved me to be here.”
Alarick looks away, just for a moment, and then he murmurs, “It’s finished with.”
“There’s something else ...” I trail off, this part being something I’m super scared to tell him.
“Go on ...”
I take a deep, shaky breath. How do I even say this? Do I say I’m sick? Am I sick? Not really, I mean, I don’t think so anyway. I could be, if it’s cancerous, but I don’t know that until it’s removed. Do I just blurt out I have a tumor and his name is Rupert and I should have had him removed weeks ago?
“Briella, you’re stallin’, what is it you want to tell me?”
I exhale and look him dead in the eye. “I’ve got something ... dangerous in my brain.”
Okay, that didn’t sound quite right either.
Alarick narrows his eyes. “Not sure I follow.”
“I have a brain tumor, Flick,” I say softly. “It’s making me ... sick.”
For a moment, he just stares at me. His face expressionless, like he can’t comprehend what I just told him.
After a long moment, he rasps, “How bad?”
“I have to get it removed, the surgery is risky, really risky, and they won’t know how bad it is until they take it out.”
“You mean if it’s cancer?” he grinds out, his voice tight.
“Yes.”
He shakes his head. “Fuck. No.”
“Hey,” I say, reaching out for him. “It’s going to be okay. I trust that I’ll come through this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands, his voice angry but I can hear the pain behind it so I don’t take it to heart. “Why didn’t you come straight here and tell me? Why did you leave it so long?”
“We weren’t exactly on speaking terms, you know that. Things were ... messy. I didn’t want you to stop feeling what you were feeling just because I threw that news on you. You didn’t want me here, you made that abundantly clear, I didn’t need to force you to change your mind.”
He looks hurt by this, but he has to know it’s the truth. “If I had known ...”
“Exactly,” I say softly. “Exactly.”
“Why haven’t you had the surgery?”
“I wanted to find Magnolia, I wanted to help her and make sure she was okay just in case ...”
He looks away, his fists tight. Then he stands and starts pacing around the room. He looks like he’s going to explode. I stand and walk over to him, placing my hands on his shoulders to stop his pacing. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“I can’t lose anyone else. I can’t fuckin’ lose you, Briella,” he says, putting his hands either side of my face. “I can’t fuckin’ lose you.”
“You won’t,” I whisper.
“You don’t know that!” he barks, letting me go and storming toward the door.
“Alarick!” I call after him.
“I need a minute.”
He disappears into the hall and I’m left standing, staring at the empty space where he just was. With an exhale, I walk over to the sofa and sit down. I drop my head into my hands and take a few deep breaths.
This isn’t how this was supposed to go, not really.
I knew he wouldn’t take it well, and I know he’ll come back.
But I just ... I need someone to hang onto me right now and tell me I’m going to make it through this.
To tell me I’m not alone.
To tell me not to be scared, because right now, I’m so damned scared I can’t think straight.
I need Flick.
More than anything in this world, I need him.
Because he is the only thing I have left.
He is my saving grace.
THE BED MOVES, AND my eyes pop open. For a moment, I stare into the darkness, not entirely sure what's happening. Then I feel the bed dip again before a warm, hard body presses against mine.
"It's okay," Alarick's sexy, husky voice murmurs into the darkness, "It's just me."
"What are you doing?" I whisper sleepily. "Are you okay?"
He takes hold of my body and pulls me into him, positioning me so I fall into his big arms. There, he hangs onto me so tightly I struggle to breathe, but I don't mind. It feels so incredibly comforting to have him here, beside me, hanging on. I wonder, for a moment, if I'm dreaming.