Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
So much has happened—all the lovemaking, the dates, starting at my new college, and getting used to life on a different coast. I’m even making friends at college, which was always difficult for me before.
It’s because of Luke. I know it. He brings out pieces of me I never imagined existed.
Now, we’re back on the East Coast. I’m wearing all black too, my heart thumping. I don’t know how Luke did this for so many years without his nerves unraveling. My body pumps in time with my beating heart. Luke pushes the door open, his hand near his hip, near his gun.
“He shouldn’t cause us any problems, but if he does…”
Reginald sits up in shock when Luke throws the door open. The lamp’s on, showing the face that’s been burned into my memory ever since he selfishly took from me what he thought he was owed. He’s a large man with a bald head, his features flat, his eyes looking mean even as they widen in surprise.
“What, what…”
He shudders, moving as if to rise out of bed, but Luke is there first. My man moves like a giant shadow, rushing to the bed and shoving a hand against Reginald’s chest. He sits back gasping and crazily, there’s some pity in me, a voice rising that wants to tell Luke to stop. We can’t do this, but the things this man did.
I walk to the end of the bed, like we arranged, and tear the mask off. Reginald’s eyes snap even wider.
“So, you recognize me?” I say.
He starts to cry, looking so weak and pathetic compared to the monster he was when he had me alone in his office.
“You almost ruined my life,” I go on, glaring at him, unwilling to let the fear swallow me. I’m stronger than that now. I’ve got Luke.
“You almost made it impossible for me to feel real intimacy. You almost broke me. You almost tore my life apart. There’s no excuse for what you did.”
“I’m—I’m—s-sorry,” he croaks.
“I could end your life right here,” I snap, and that’s when Luke takes out his gun and presses it to the side of Reginald’s head. He tries to cringe away from it, but Luke just follows his shifting movements, keeping the gun pressed against him at all times.
“One word,” I hiss, “and you’re done. That’s all it would take.”
“P-p-puh-please…”
“There’s no excuse. There’s nothing you can say to make it right. Do you understand, Reginald? I could kill you right here… with a single word.”
His blubbering gets even worse, his body shaking. I can’t believe how weak he looks, how not a monster, nothing like the phantom he became in my memory.
“But instead, I hired somebody to hack into your computer,” I hiss.
Well, Luke did, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“They found all that filth you keep on there. They found the websites you visit. They’ve got it all, and I sent it to the police.”
A rush of power surges through me when he gasps, shaking his head. “No, no, no…”
“They should be here any minute now.”
Right on cue, sirens cut through the air, getting closer to us.
Luke looks at me, a question in his eyes. He told me before… the choice is mine.
We could let the police find him, or Luke would avenge me, take this man’s life, put right the wrongs of the past. I know there’s a different way to do that now. Keep living, always remembering that family is the most important thing.
“Can’t give you a chance to ditch your sick shit,” Luke grunts as he takes out the zip ties and efficiently binds Reginald’s hands behind his back, securing them to the bedpost, the sirens getting louder and closer each second. “No melting your hard drive. No tossing your laptop. And know this, Reginald. You got off lucky. If I had my way, your brains would be goddamn paint on the wall.”
We walk from the room, down the hallway, out of the apartment building, and across the street. Sitting in the car, Luke wraps his hand around mine.
“After what my contact found, he’ll be going to prison for a long time.”
I smile, then I begin to laugh. It must have an unhinged quality to it, like maybe Luke thinks I’m going crazy. Or crazier, since it was a type of beautiful madness that brought us together.
He wraps his arm around me. “Violet…”
“I wanted to wait until this was done,” I say, my grin fixed on my face, cheeks aching with the joy bursting through me. “So I could put this behind me forever. So there was nothing staining our new life together.”
I look up at him, into my man’s strong face, his captivating eyes.
“I’m pregnant, Luke.”
He cheers, then sits back and pumps his fist through the air, more happiness drenching his hit man’s features than I’ve seen yet, every inch of him beaming with joy.