Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I didn’t bother telling her my name. “Let’s get out of here.”
I took her to a hotel because I didn’t want my place to smell like anyone else but me. I stripped off my jacket and yanked my shirt over my head once we were in the room. Then I took a seat on the couch with my arms sprawled over the back of the couch.
Serenity began her seduction dance, slowly peeling off her clothing, taking her time unzipping her dress before she stepped out of it and worked her bra.
My eyes were fixed on her, but I couldn’t see her.
I saw a different brunette.
I saw eyes both kind and vicious.
I saw a woman who had been beaten by the world but refused to cower.
Flashbacks came across my mind. She straddled my thighs then crushed her mouth to mine. The slickness of her body when I entered. The tightness that followed. The way she would pant right in my ear as she pressed her tits into my face.
Then other memories came back to me.
Her eyes opened and looked into mine, tired and rested at the same time. “You stayed.” Then this smile came on to her face, a smile so brilliant it was like the sun on a summer morning. Her hand reached for mine, stopping on my pec, right above my heart, like she wanted to feel it beat.
“You okay?” The voice shattered my daydream. Serenity was naked in front of me, on her knees as she worked my jeans.
Reality set in. It was dark. I was empty.
She was a beautiful woman, but I found myself utterly disappointed by everything about her. “No.”
“What do you mean no?” she asked.
“No, I’m not okay.” I got up from the couch and put my shirt back on. “Keep the money. I’ve got to go.”
12
LAURA
Lucas and I just left. Catherine is alone.
Thanks, Victor. I headed to their apartment, knowing I’d have a couple hours alone with my sister before Lucas returned. Having Victor on my side made my life a lot easier. I wouldn’t be able to pull off any of this without him.
The butler let me inside, and my sister didn’t make any excuses not to see me.
When she caught sight of me, she immediately flocked to me. “Laura, are you okay?” Her eyes immediately went to my arm, where you could see the nasty scar I’d carry for the rest of my life.
“I’m fine.” I looked at her arm, pleased to see it was no longer in a sling. “What about you?”
“A lot better than you.” When she looked up, she saw me smiling. “What?”
“It’s nice to see you care about me.”
Her eyes dropped like she was embarrassed. “I was just worried after I heard what happened…” We moved into the drawing room, and her butler set out appetizers for us to enjoy without being told.
We were quiet for a while, like we didn’t know what to say to each other.
“Daddy felt really bad afterward…”
Sure he did. “He apologized to me.” And I would never accept the apology.
“I can’t believe it came to that.”
And it didn’t have to come to that.
“You aren’t with that guy anymore?”
That guy. He was so much more than that guy. “We broke up about a month ago.”
“It was for the best.”
If Lucas got hit by a semi, that would be for the best. “How are things with Lucas?”
“Good. Really good.”
“Because he hasn’t hit you in a month?” I asked sarcastically.
She directed her eyes elsewhere.
After escaping Bartholomew’s wrath, my father’s men were probably high on their win, so Lucas had other things to focus on besides tormenting my sister. When I took down my father, I was tempted to take Lucas too.
“I hear you and Victor are spending time together.” My sister turned her gaze back on me, her eyes trying to pry into my mind.
Victor wouldn’t voluntarily give up information, which meant Lucas had asked. If Victor started blabbing about it, it would come off as suspicious, because he had never been much of a talker, especially about his personal life. “It’s nothing serious.”
“You’ve had dinner together a few times.”
“Are you guys spying on us?”
She quickly looked away.
So, I was being followed. Night and day.
“Victor is a good guy,” she said. “I think he deserves another chance.”
“You mean I deserve another chance?” I asked. “Because he’s the one who divorced me.” She was too young to really remember.
“I think true love always deserves a second chance.”
Which was why she’d had her arm broken. And who knows how many black eyes she’d received.
“Victor is a better man than Lucas. And Dad has always really liked him.”
Because he followed orders like a dog.
“You think…you guys will get back together?”
“I don’t know, Catherine. I just got out of a relationship.”
“Like a month ago,” she said. “That’s plenty of time.”
That month had passed in the blink of an eye. It felt like just yesterday when I woke up in the hospital with him at my bedside. It felt like just yesterday when we were shacked up in the hotel room in Paris, our sweaty bodies stuck together like glue. When he’d told me he slept around, I didn’t believe him…or I didn’t want to believe him. But after our last conversation, I wondered if he’d moved on.