Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
My mind flashes back to the day I moved in. Paul was suddenly nice and invited me to cook for the poker game. How all of them hooted when I walked in the door. Heck, Sawyer was at the door ready and willing to help me.
When I glance at Luke, he doesn’t answer. Instead, he runs his hand through his short hair, looking anywhere but at me. He’s not denying it, that's for damn sure. As I search the crowd and find the others I recognize from poker night, they’re also pretending none of this is happening.
“Luke.” I reach out and touch his forearm, and his gaze finally meets mine. “Is it true?”
“You should talk to your husband. I’m sorry, Chloe.” His voice is soft, but once again, there’s no denial.
“Sawyer?” My eyes fill with tears, not wanting to believe it. “It’s not true.” I say the words I want him to repeat so that we can leave and pretend this never happened.
“Chloe.” I hate that he uses my name because he never calls me by it.
Sawyer throws Paul out of his hold, and my stepbrother collides with a table with a loud clatter. Sawyer takes a step toward me, but I retreat as my hands go out in front of me.
“Answer me. Say it’s not true.” I know he won’t lie to me. Or do I? If this is true, what do I really know about him? A tear escapes, but I quickly swipe it away. Everyone is still watching us, and the restaurant is utterly quiet.
“It’s not what you think.” He takes another step toward me, but I match it in retreat. “You think you can run from me, kitten?”
“Just answer this. Was there a bet?” I snap, and the last part comes out sounding more hysterical than I intended it to. His brows rise in surprise.
He’s quiet for a beat before he says the word that stabs me in the heart. “Yes.”
The fairy tale I thought was ours disappears, and I feel like I might be sick.
“Officers, it was him. He attacked me,” Paul slurs and it’s then I see two cops closing in around us.
“Don’t do it,” Sawyer orders me in that same tone that commands my body so easily.
I pause for a second, but I know this is my only chance so I turn and dart towards the door.
“Chloe!” Sawyer shouts, and when I push through the door, I look back in time to see the two officers grabbing Sawyer to stop him from chasing after me.
Once outside, I wave my hand at the first taxi I see and hop in.
“Where to?” the driver asks, but I have no freaking clue. I need a second, and that’s not something Sawyer will give me.
“Just drive please,” I say before swiping at the tears on my cheeks. It’s pointless because they aren’t stopping anytime soon.
Chapter Six
SAWYER
“Let me go!” I try to pull away from the police officers, but they’re telling me to calm down and cooperate.
“I’m pressing charges,” Paul says while someone hands him a bag of ice to put on his face.
In my mind, I know that logically if I keep arguing it’s only going to keep me from getting to Chloe. It’s too bad that my heart doesn’t give a shit and I need to go after her. “Let me talk to her and then I’ll go with you.”
“Pull it together,” Luke says, and I look over to see him pleading with me. “You’ve got to calm down. I’ll make some calls. Everything is going to be okay.”
“She left.” My voice cracks on the last word, and my heart squeezes in pain.
“She needs to cool down. You both do.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Bruce walks in, and his eyes widen. I can only imagine the sight of his son bloody and me in handcuffs is a bit of a shock. This was supposed to be a celebration.
“I’m sending your golden boy to jail.” Paul somehow manages to sneer even with a broken nose.
Luke steps closer to Bruce, and I don’t hear what he says as the police begin to take statements. I’m forced to sit in cuffs while Paul tells them his account of what happened. Once Bruce is finished talking to Luke, he makes an announcement to the employees that the party is over and it’s time for everyone to leave.
After that, Bruce speaks with Paul privately, but they’re too far away for me to hear what they’re saying. Whatever he says to him infuriates Paul, and he ends up knocking over another table before storming out.
Bruce seems to ignore his son and goes to talk to the owner of the restaurant. That’s when I see Bruce slide him a sizable amount of cash, and then they shake hands.
The next thing I know, the police are uncuffing me and telling me that the charges have been dropped. Bruce thanks them, but I don’t get a chance to say anything before he takes me by the upper arm and practically shoves me out of the restaurant.