Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 119230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
She shakes her head. “I … I didn’t recognize his name, but they’ve taken him in for questioning.”
“Mom,” I demand, unable to control the anger poisoning my veins. It’s more than likely that I wouldn’t recognize his name either. Addison was at a Hope Falls party during the summer because she was trying to avoid me, trying to avoid my watchful eye as she hung out with her friends. If I hadn’t been so overprotective, always fucking with her nights, maybe she wouldn’t have felt the need to slip away from us, wouldn’t have gone all the way out to a public party. I’ll never forget her call, listening as she screamed for help while the bastard laughed and raped her. It makes me fucking sick.
I got there just in time to save her life, but not fast enough to see who the fuck had hurt her, and I will never forgive myself for it.
“Colby Jacobs,” she finally says.
“Jacobs?” I question, my back stiffening as I clench my jaw so hard that I fear I’ll crack each of my fucking teeth. “Colby Fucking Jacobs? Are you shitting me?”
Uncontrollable rage pounds through my veins. That fucking prick. This was never about my sister. This was about me. The asshole has been waiting nearly two years to screw me over and the second he saw his opportunity, he fucking took it.
Two years ago, I fucked his older sister right before her senior prom. It was a drunk, sloppy, encounter, but I got what I needed from it. She didn’t mention she was damn near engaged to some NFL tight end that was traded to an out-of-state team. Some drunk bitch barged in and told everyone what went down. For me, it was just another drunken conquest that I barely remember, but I imagine her boyfriend didn’t take the news so well. Her whole school was talking about it. She was labeled the slut of Hope Falls, a jersey chaser, and her dream of being an NFL trophy wife was over before graduation. Her reputation was destroyed. I heard a rumor when she disappeared that her mom sent her to some small town to live with a distant uncle. I felt bad for the girl, but she made her own decisions. Who the hell knows what she’s doing now. It’s not my problem.
Despite how eager Rachael was to slide into bed with the star player of Bradford Private’s football team, Colby blames me for destroying his sister’s future. Every time I face him in the field, he takes it personally. The fucker hates me, but I never gave him a second thought until now.
Mom grips my hands, trying to calm me while also desperate for answers. “Tanner, do you know this boy?”
I scoff. “Know is a loose term for it. He’s fucking scum. He’s the captain of the Hope Falls football team and plays dirty. If he fucking did this …” I curl my hands into fists around my mother’s fingers and she has no choice but to pull away from me. “If he did this, it was to send a message to me, and the fucker used Addie to do it.”
A loud roar tears out of me, and I slam my hands against the counter, imagining what fresh hell my little sister went through all because of my decision to let some loose bitch fuck me two years ago and this asshole’s need for vengeance. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Mom grips my arm and tears me back to face her. “The hell you are,” she spits, her tone full of venom. “You’re not going to do a damn thing except eat your dinner and go straight to bed. The police haven’t even confirmed that this boy is the culprit. They’re simply questioning him. No arrest has been made and no charges filed. He could have an alibi or might have been mistaken for someone else, so until we know for sure, there’s not a damn thing you will do, do you understand me, Tanner Morgan?”
“Mom, no. If he did—”
She grips my chin and forces her stare to mine, that same venom pouring out of her again, demanding obedience. “I said, do you understand me?”
“Yes, alright. I won’t do anything.”
“Good. He made the worst mistake of his life when he touched my little girl, so don’t be fooled, Tanner, he will go down for this, but it will be with the law on our side. You will not get your hands dirty, and you sure as hell will not throw your future away. Addison would not want you to jeopardize yourself no matter how angry you are. The moment the police can prove this young man raped our girl, we will hit him with the full force of the law, and he will spend the rest of his life behind bars, but until then, you keep yourself out of it. You will not jeopardize this case by becoming involved.”