Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“You gave a little girl to drug dealers…?” It really was horrible.
He gave a nod. “The deal was just to keep the mother until Benton and I showed up. Then we would make the trade and both have what we really wanted. But…it didn’t go according to plan. It’s a long story, but there was another woman there, and she messed everything up. The freaks chose to fake the little girl’s death so they could keep both of them—and then everything went to shit.”
My heart broke for Benton. I imagined his reaction when he was told that his little girl had been killed.
“In the end, we got Claire and Beatrice back unharmed, and the woman we saved is now his wife. There are times when everything seems fine with Benton, but then the dust gets kicked up and he hates me again.” His eyes shifted away, thinking of something else. “He hasn’t forgiven me. Never will. Can’t say I blame him…but it’s shitty.”
I processed all that information in silence. It was the first time I realized Bartholomew wasn’t that different from my father. He was capable of anything to get what he wanted. “Why would you do that to your friend?”
“Because I felt betrayed. He was my second in an organization that only takes life sentences. He broke his vow and turned his back on me—after everything I did for him.” Now his anger showed, burning underneath the surface. “After everything we’d been through, he left me hanging. I never got over it. He left me to be a father to a child he didn’t even want. He said I was his brother, but clearly, blood is stronger than whatever the fuck we had…”
If I didn’t know so much about him already, his actions would have been ludicrous. But I understood them perfectly. “You’re jealous of his daughter.”
His eyes narrowed.
“He’s the only family you’ve ever had, but he picked her over you.”
He set the empty glass on the table and looked away again.
“It was the only way to get what you wanted. To have Benton back in your life while he remained a father to his daughter. It was the only way for the two of you to share him.”
He still wouldn’t look at me. “I was promised nothing would happen to Beatrice. And I was also promised it would only be Beatrice, not the little girl. But it’s my fault for trusting the word of a psychopath. Doesn’t justify the horrible things that little girl saw.”
“Why do you keep calling them that? Freaks. Psychopaths.”
He considered his answer for a long time. “Because it’s a cult. The leaders consider themselves demons, and they capture beautiful women they believe to be angels, the only ones who have the power to restore their redemption with God.”
My face must have looked horrified.
“They force the girls to do acid with them. That’s how they ascend.”
Jesus.
“Freaks…that’s exactly what they are.”
And that little girl had been trapped with them. Horrible. “The fact that you two still talk suggests you’re still important to him.”
He didn’t say anything.
“It makes him angry every time he thinks about it, but after he cools off, he’ll come back around.”
“He won’t accept my apology.”
“Maybe he needs more time.”
“His brother works for me now—and Benton doesn’t like it. I offered to let Bleu go, but Benton doesn’t want to interfere in his life… Otherwise, he would be no better than me. Truer words I’ve never heard.”
“Why doesn’t he want him to work for you?”
He gave a subtle shrug. “It’s not exactly a job that ends in retirement. It’s more of a sprint than a marathon.”
“But Benton would have stayed if he didn’t have his daughter, right?”
“Probably. But I guess fatherhood has given him a new perspective on life.”
I saw both light and dark in this man. He was a man willing to do anything to achieve his agenda, but he did have limits, unlike my father.
“This is the part where you ask me to leave.” He crossed one ankle on the opposite knee, getting more comfortable in the chair like he wasn’t going anywhere. “To walk out of your life and never come back.”
I’d known from the very beginning I shouldn’t get involved with a man like him, but here I was, six weeks later, needing our nights together more than I needed air or water. Handsome men who passed me suddenly appeared faceless, just a blur because my thoughts were wholly occupied by Bartholomew. “My father would have taken the girl himself and threatened to hurt her if Benton didn’t cooperate. And he would have kept that threat over his head every single day to ensure his compliance. He would have been a dictator and Benton a slave. You’re better than that.”
“Just because I’m not as evil as your father doesn’t make me a good guy, sweetheart.” His jawline was covered with a shadow that went down his neck. It had the same darkness as his eyes.