Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
On second thought…
He deserved it if he was tempted to leave me to the wild animals.
Where was my mom when I needed her?
“All right, all right.” He bit back a curse like he was the one inconvenienced when my car was the one wrapped around a giant tree. “Hi, yes, there’s been an accident…” He sighed. “I guess I can stay with her… How the hell am I supposed to know if she has a concussion? No, you know I don’t get into other people’s business… that’s what I thought. Remember who pays you.”
He stopped talking.
It felt like hours before I heard the sirens before I was pulled gently from the car by paramedics while they checked my injuries.
I blinked in confusion as I was lifted onto a stretcher. The last thing I saw was a black Bentley fleeing the scene, and the same smell of candy wafted past my nostrils as my eyes drifted shut.
Chapter Two
Benjamin
Three a.m. I should be used to it by now. Used to the sudden jolt from sleep that always woke me in a panic.
Used to the way the same feeling of despair clung to me, choked me until it was hard to take another breath.
Used to the helplessness that always came afterward when I realized the cycle would continue because, after so many years, how could it not?
Slowly, I walked down the stairs in nothing but my black silk pajama pants. After all, it wasn’t like we had company.
My lips twitched at that.
Maybe I was finally going insane?
Wouldn’t that be a fucking relief?
I made my way into the dimly lit kitchen and turned on the coffee. My hands throbbed like they always did, in perfect cadence to each painful beat of my heart.
It would be over soon, suddenly gone the same way it came.
I rubbed the scar over my ring finger, hating the way it mocked me.
Then again, curses weren’t known for giving you cheerful good mornings, high fives, and bacon.
God, I missed bacon.
I missed everything that used to give pleasure, and now, just one thing remained.
Fucking sick, that’s what it was.
That’s what I was.
“Ah, you’re up.” Jasper gave me an irritated sigh as he tossed yesterday’s paper onto the kitchen table and eyed me with suspicion. “Have you been down here long?”
I gritted my teeth. “You know you’re like the babysitter I never asked for but can’t seem to get rid of?”
The corners of his mouth tilted up in a smirk. “Good morning to you too. Oh yes, I had a lovely evening; thanks for asking.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sarcasm, that’s new.”
He just shrugged. “You know the rules. I have to ask—”
I held up my hand. “Save yourself the words. Wouldn’t want you to waste them on me since we both know you have a cap on how many you use in a day. God forbid you have to actually leave the house and socialize.”
His dark eyebrows arched. “Yes, well, that’s not my job, is it?”
I jerked out one of the brown leather barstools and sat. For being as old as he was—Jasper looked like the epitome of health.
Perfectly coiffed salt and pepper hair that was on the longer side. Strong jawline that was clenched tighter than his asshole on most occasions and thick, black-rimmed glasses that framed bright blue sinister-looking eyes, reminding me that I wasn’t the only villain.
No, the villain had been given a keeper.
Yay me.
“To answer your question…” I raked both hands through my thick black hair. “I’m up for the rest of the day. I went from my room, down the stairs, and into your bedroom to move your pencils around because I know how long it takes to arrange them in that perfect pentagram form, and then I came into the kitchen to grab coffee.” I flipped him off with a grin and an imaginary tip of my hat while he scowled down at me like I was some petulant child.
I lived for his disapproval.
It was the only entertainment I truly had these days.
Cursed.
Cursed.
Cursed.
My body basically beat the word rather than my own sinful blood.
“For your information, it takes me seconds to make the pentagram.” There was no pentagram but points for his participation. “And again, you know I have to ask. Now…” He pulled out his chair and crossed his arms across his perfectly tailored navy suit. Shit, even his polka dot bow tie annoyed me.
But he was untouchable.
Most of all to me, though at times, I wondered what could be worse than the hell I already existed in.
“Your plans, then, for the rest of the day?” He was baiting me like he always did because there was an hour a day that I kept to myself, where I was able to use what I had left to stay in the shadows and visit the cove to learn more secrets and hopefully gain more answers.