Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 207002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1035(@200wpm)___ 828(@250wpm)___ 690(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1035(@200wpm)___ 828(@250wpm)___ 690(@300wpm)
Lowering his arm, he tipped his chin down. “You stayed alive for me, Aslan. You were so close to death. One breath between fading or staying. I accepted that if you died, then my choice had been made. I would accept that you had to die to protect everything I’ve worked so hard to build—”
“You traffic people and ruin families. Your life’s work is nothing to be proud of.”
He paused before nodding. “I agree that some of my business dealings are...underhanded...but I also do good. I am on the board of many charities and donate—”
“As a front. A cover-up for who you truly are.”
His nostrils flared as his eyebrows came down. “I am prepared to give you leeway, Aslan, but don’t judge me before you know me. Don’t be short-sighted. Despite common sense saying I should kill you, I am willing...no, I am desperate to have you return to me. I’ve missed you every day since you were stolen. I’ve hurt people, I will not deny that. I have no qualms about using force for my own end, but I don’t want to have to use that force on you. I don’t want to fight.”
“Then you should never have come after me. Just leave me be. If you can’t kill me, then great. I-I owe you my thanks. I will sign any document you need proving I don’t want your business. I vow I will never attempt to take it. We can just go our separate ways and—”
“I am not a patient man. In my fantasies, you slip into my world as easily as if you were never taken, but I am aware you will need time. I am willing to give you time. In fact, while you fought to survive, I made a vow that if you lived, I would do whatever it took to prove I am your flesh and blood. I don’t want to kill you. I don’t think I ever did. I merely want to love you and give you more power, more wealth, more opportunity than you could ever claim living in a shed in some scientist’s garden.”
“Leave them out of it,” I hissed. “They loved me. They never did anything to hurt me.”
“Are you so sure about that?” Cem raised a manicured eyebrow. “I read an interesting police report from a few years ago. A domestic violence account where Jack Taylor beat you—”
“He thought I’d raped his daughter.”
Just how fucking deep does his reach go?
“Now what would give him that idea?” His dark eyes twinkled. “Did you force yourself upon her?” He held up his hands before I could reply, chuckling. “No judgement from me, of course. However, if you did, I find it surprising how shattered she was when I told her you were dead.”
My heart fisted. Thorns wrapped around it and punctured the useless organ. “You have to let me talk to her.”
He smiled sadly. “That is the one thing I cannot give you.”
“You can’t let her suffer thinking I’m gone. You can’t be that cruel—”
“Cruel?” His narrowed eyes blazed with black fire. “I suffered over twenty years thinking you were dead. I spent the first five years mourning you with a despair that almost broke me. You were taken from me, Aslan. My baby son. My only son. I know how excruciating loss can be, so don’t you dare speak to me of cruelty.”
I breathed hard, doing my best to figure out how to handle him and protect Neri at the same time. Whatever painkillers and antibiotics flowed in my blood scrambled my thoughts and made my skin glisten with sweat. “Look...I told you I’ll stay while I heal. We can even remain in touch if that is what you wish, but...I can’t let her think I’m dead. I won’t let you—”
“Nerida Taylor is a part of your past.” He stiffened. “I suggest you let her go just like she will learn to let go of you. You will never see her again.” Looming over me, his tone turned thick and terrifying. “I’ve dedicated my entire life to finding you, Aslan. And now that I have, you will rule in my stead. You will learn that this is your rightful place. I will do whatever it takes to turn you into the man you would’ve been. And once you have accepted your place and proven you are my trueborn heir, you will inherit all that I have built. And you will do it gladly.”
I held his stare even as pain tugged me down. “You can’t make someone do something they don’t want to do.”
He nodded, clasped his hands, and stood. Looking down at me, he said softly, “You are my son, so I will treat you as such. I am obligated to love you and treat you with respect because you are my flesh and blood. But...you are also a stranger. We are strangers to one another, which makes us enemies.”