Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
No, this is all wrong. She’s drawing me into her game, testing me like the spoiled brat she’s always been. Whenever I forget her true nature, she finds a way to remind me. I ought to thank her for bringing me back to my senses.
“What’s it gonna be?” she asks, arching an eyebrow. “I’m going whether you want me to or not. You can’t keep me in prison here. And something tells me if I called my father, he would agree with me.”
“Now you’re deluding yourself.”
“I don’t think so.” Her chin quivers a second before her bottom lip juts out. “Daddy, all I want to do is get out in the world and try to get used to being around people again. I even told him to come with me so I feel safe. But he won’t do it.”
“That would be low even for you.”
“Ask me if I care about your opinion of me.”
I hate her for this. Pinning me in place, smirking at me the way she is now. What I wouldn’t give to wipe that smirk off her face. To watch understanding dawn on that pretty face when she figures out she fucked with the wrong person. The girl has no idea what I’m capable of. She might as well be tap dancing in a minefield.
“Fine.”
She narrows her eyes, and for one brief instant, I might as well be looking at Amanda. That’s the look the woman whose ashes sit on the mantle would get on her face whenever she knew she was in dangerous territory with Callum but didn’t want to give an inch.
“Really?” Her head tips to the side.
“Yeah, really. What, are you scared now that you’re getting what you want?”
“I’m not afraid, especially not of you.” It would be cruel to remind her just how terrified she was last night, so I won’t.
“Then you better go get ready while I grab something to eat. I don’t feel like waiting around all night for you.”
She’s still wary as she rises from the couch, giving me a wide berth like I would give to a snake I came close to. She has nothing to worry about, at least not from me. I’m not going to hurt her – she’s too busy trying to hurt herself.
And I’m too busy imagining killing some dumb bastard tonight for the crime of touching her when she belongs to me.
CHAPTER 16
TATUM
I can’t believe I convinced him to do this. But we’re actually here, in a club two towns away, where there’s no chance of running into anybody he knows. Neither of us needs that tonight. The energy between us throughout the ride is tense, electric. I’m surprised my hair isn’t standing on end by the time he parks across the street from a club larger than the one I visited before.
I didn’t choose this place at random. I wanted somewhere bigger, somewhere darker. Somewhere I could melt into the shadows and lose myself. That’s what I need more than anything tonight. To lose my inhibitions and let the chips fall where they fall.
I know better than to try to talk to him as we keep a quick pace while crossing the street. It’s like he’s in a hurry to get this over with, marching with his fists clenched in the pockets of his leather jacket. I can’t help but wonder in the back of my head what this means for him. What he expects to happen tonight. I only know there’s something different in the air. Something between us. After what happened last night, it’s not a surprise. We know each other differently.
And I’m going to make him regret rejecting me. Let’s see how he likes being reminded of how many men wouldn’t do that if they were in his place.
Because here’s the thing: he can’t pretend now. I know what’s going on in his head. Whatever reason he had for stopping what was happening, it was against his will. For once, I have power over him. And I am going to take advantage of it.
There’s something almost feral in the air once we step inside. A primal energy that pulses through me with every beat of the music that drowns out everything. I like it. I like how it rumbles through me. It touches some deep, dark part of me. I would like to get to know it better; the side of me now lit up, warm, and glowing.
“Dirty martini,” I call out before he asks if I want a drink, while running my hands down the front of my short, tight, black dress. Nothing special, nothing to make me stand out. I could be anyone right now.
My heart’s racing as I scan the crowd pressing in from all sides, the air thick with perfume and cologne and the sweat from countless bodies. Everybody’s looking for the same thing, whether they know it or not. We all want to forget. It’s just a matter of what needs to be overlooked. A shitty job, an empty bed, whatever. Tonight, in the dark, with the deafening music, all of that will be forgotten. If only for a little while. Tonight, we can be whoever we want to be.