Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“You’ll come to your senses real fucking soon, girl. You will beg for my mercy,” she snarls as she stands. “You’re nothing without me.”
“I don’t think I will. Now, get the fuck out.”
I drop the lighter, and she snatches it up, her chin raised high, not bothering to look at Clay and Vance as she leaves.
“Are you sure it’s okay to let her leave?” Clay asks.
A weight shifts inside me, and for some reason, I feel stronger. More powerful. “Yes. I think it’s quite all right. This is my empire now. Entirely.”
“If Alek comes back?” Vance asks.
“He grovels,” I say, leaving no room for argument. I don’t want to do this without my brother, but I sure as hell can. “Then I’ll see which leg I’ll break first before I let him back in.”
I might be heartless, but I don’t want to lose the only two people I’ve ever been able to call family in one night.
CHAPTER 44
River
Ispend the rest of the evening with my mother. She has a dog on either side of her, their heads on her lap, as she sits on the sofa in the living room. She always spoils them. I’m sure coming to live with me again was a pain in the ass for them.
“I see you’re breaking the rules of the house.” She turns and smiles. The dogs don’t even bother moving. Supposedly, the dogs aren’t allowed to lie on the sofa, but I have yet to see that rule actually be enforced.
She’s reading a book and sets her tea down. “I love this tea, River. I’ll have to grab some before I go back home,” she says in way of changing the topic.
“It’s Anya’s favorite,” I say as I sit on the couch opposite her.
“Anya is an interesting choice,” she says carefully. I give her a pointed look as I fish my phone out of my pocket.
“You like her, don’t you?” I ask. Whether my mother approves or not, there is no me without Anya.
My mother nods, and it fills me with pride. “Not really who I thought would be the first woman of yours I’d meet. She certainly has a temper, but I’m sure you can handle her.”
“You’ve met other women,” I remind her, and her saying Anya has a temper is an understatement.
“None that you couldn’t keep your hands off of or that you were smitten with,” she points out as she stretches her legs. The dogs jump off as if only just now realizing I’m in the room.
“I’m not smitten,” I counter as I unlock my phone to the screensaver of Anya and her beautifully pierced tits on my screen. I can’t wait to break into her home tonight, and break her in as well.
“No, I think you’re in love,” my mother says as she stands. I don’t confirm or deny it. “Just be careful with that one. It sounds like she went through her fair share of hardships growing up. She may have never been loved before, and I’m pretty sure she will do everything in her power to push it away or sabotage it.”
“I’m very persistent,” I reply with a smile.
My mother just laughs and nods her head. “Don’t I know it. I’m going to bed now. Enjoy your evening, River, and don’t be out too late,” she says as she summons the dogs behind her.
“Whatever could you mean?” I ask innocently, and she gives me a knowing look. Now that she knows Anya and I are neighbors, she knows exactly where I’m heading tonight.
My phone buzzes, and it’s a message from Will. My eyes widen at the onslaught of information. Though I might’ve called him off Alek Ivanov for the time being, it didn’t take away my curiosity around Meredith Fork.
For good reason. Fuck. My instincts are always on point, and as I read the information he’s sent through, they prove correct once again.
There’s no way Anya can possibly know this.
An alert trips on my property’s perimeter alarm and notifies me through my phone.
“What the fuck?” I say as I switch out the screen and look at my security cameras. There’s nothing on screen, but I know better than that, considering I used the same tactic on Anya’s premises last night.
Someone’s on my property, and it’s most likely someone who shouldn’t be. If it were Anya, there would be no sneaking. She’d kick in the front door unapologetically.
I stand and peek out of the living room and up the staircase. My mother is in her bedroom now, and the dogs are with her. If someone is trying to get in, then their first choice is most likely through the garage. Because that’s the first place I would break into.
Michael would have been alerted about the intrusion as well, and he’ll be minutes away.
I open the wooden cabinet in my living room and shift three of the books. I grab the pistol hidden there. In the book beside it is the silencer, and I combine the two. My second sensor alerts me through my phone, closer to the house now. The cameras aren’t relaying that detail to me, but as expected, they’re heading toward the garage, so I do the same.