Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
I take a breath and push back my need for vengeance. “Does your father know what a piece of shit Daniel is? They seemed kinda cozy earlier.”
She stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “No, Jensen. I didn’t tell my dad I broke up with Daniel because we had a terrible sex life and he called me a corpse.” She delivers each word with deadly precision. “We don’t have that kind of father-daughter relationship.”
“He should know the guy’s a piece of shit.”
“Daniel was always on his best behavior around my father—mostly because I think he wanted to manage my family business’s finances.”
I bet he did.
“Don’t you dare tell my father what I told you.”
“I’d never do that. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. And I keep my word.”
“Then promise me you won’t seek Daniel out and try to murder him.”
“Ahhh, no. I won’t promise you that.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” I hold up one hand, pretending to be a man of reason. “Okay, I promise not to seek him out.”
She stares at me as if she’s planning to bargain for how much violence I can visit upon her ex. But it’s not really up for debate. The need to put my blade to his throat rages inside me.
“I mean it, Jensen.” Satan save me, she’s so damn cute when she’s trying to be stern. “It’s in the past. There’s no reason your paths should ever cross. So if something happens to him, I’ll know you went against my wishes, and I’ll be upset.”
“Soooo.” I tap my chin, pretending to work this all out in my head. “Does that mean if I run into him by chance, the universe is giving me the green light to fuck him up?”
“No.” She laughs and presses her hands against my chest, attempting to shove me. “Now that we’ve had this conversation, and you know everything, I want to forget I ever knew him at all.”
“As you should.”
“Well, if you kill him, then it will be all over the news and it will bring all those awful feelings back up. You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”
God damn, if that isn’t the best argument she could’ve made. No, I don’t ever want to cause her any pain.
How much news coverage would a guy like that get if he just vanished off the face of the planet?
“Besides.” She reaches up and runs her fingers through my hair, pulling me out of my plotting. Her touch is gentle but deliberate, like she’s trying to soothe all my evil thoughts away. “If the universe is trying to tell us anything, it’s that I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
She means with me.
The weight of all the cosmic events that had to take place to bring us together wallops me in the chest. Not that I’m sentimental, but I grew up on the other side of the country. A mortician and a biker? Our worlds shouldn’t have collided. Shit like that doesn’t happen unless the universe is trying to screw with someone. Maybe it’s me.
The only reason we’re even together is because she thought she needed someone to fix her. All I had to offer her was physical. She deserves so much more. And I want to be the one to give it to her.
Is it insane to think we can turn this into forever?
I’m so slow to respond, she snatches her hand away. “Well, you know what I mean.”
My mind’s spinning through all the reasons I’m selfish as fuck. Being with me will eventually drag her down. I stare at her and try not to let the thoughts spill out. That I want to be enough for her. That the world isn’t big enough to hold the things I feel for her.
“The universe is smarter than I give it credit for,” I finally say.
She laughs again; this time it’s lighter. I want to keep that sound.
But the dark part of me—the part that knows what I am, what I’ve done, what I want to do—starts pulling me under. I’m not right for her. Not long-term. Not even close. Her moral compass might skew in a different direction than the rest of society, but it’s for the right reasons. Mine was shattered years ago. I’d kill for her. I’d maim. I’d destroy the world if it meant keeping her safe.
Her hands twist together in her lap. “You okay?”
I swallow hard and force myself to meet her concerned gaze. “More than okay. As long as I’m with you.”
If only she understood how not okay I am.
I’d kill a man just because he hurt her feelings.
Is that love or madness?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Jigsaw
Margot: Got my period.
Hal-le-fucking-lu-jah
Me: Need anything?
Margot: Advil and Sleep. I’m exhausted.
Is she telling me not to come over?
I stare at my phone, waiting for, what? An invitation?
Fuck it, I’m halfway to her house anyway.