Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“I’m fine,” she says. “And we have an entire contingent of soldiers.” She gestures back at the thugs lurking to our rear.
Adler nods, holding her tightly, before he looks over toward me. His expression tightens again, slipping into a neutral mask.
“My wife has a good heart,” he says, tone cold. “But I am not so forgiving.”
“Stop being a dick,” Casey says, hitting his arm. “Fallon knows she messed up and she’s sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t change anything.”
“I was desperate,” I say, the words spilling out. Once again, I am unable to keep my mouth shut when I should probably act all meek and apologetic. “When I came here, I was angry too. Jayson ordered the killing of my father and I wanted revenge. I did something dumb, I made a mistake, and now I deeply regret it. I fell in love with your brother.”
Adler’s lips press together. Not angry, but considering, like he doesn’t know what to make of me. Casey squeezes his muscular arm and leans in close.
“She’s telling the truth,” she whispers.
“We’ll see.” Adler turns away. “My wife here convinced me to give you more freedoms. Don’t make us regret that.”
“Wait,” I say as they begin to walk off. “Can I talk to Jayson? I just want to explain. I want to tell him what I just told you.”
“No,” Adler says and there is no more discussion.
I’m left alone, flanked by guards. They let me stand, head hung, dejected, depressed, for only a few minutes before one of them clears his throat and leads me back into my captivity.
Chapter 37
Jayson
I crouch outside of a nondescript beach house on the edge of Atlantic City. It’s small, one-story, the sort of bungalow that was built before this place had paved roads. A relic of an old time. The windows are covered by heavy blinds, and the front door is locked behind a metal gate.
Nobody comes. Nobody goes. Nothing moves.
Except my phone buzzes against my thigh. I’m tempted to turn it off, but when I check the screen, it’s Adler’s name.
“Where have you been?” my brother asks.
“Busy,” I say, speaking quietly. Almost at a whisper. “Is this important?”
“I saw your wife earlier.”
A pang hits me hard in the guts. My wife. My Fallon. “That’s nice.”
“Casey thinks she loves you.”
I nearly groan. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Casey believes her story.”
“Then Casey can be her husband.”
Adler grunts at that. The protective psychopath. “I’ll admit, I found her very convincing. She didn’t try to hide anything, and her explanation rang true. She wanted to hurt you for killing her father, but then she got to know you, and I suppose your winning personality made her fall head over heels.”
I close my eyes, breathing fast. “What the fuck do you want, Adler?”
“I want you to come back to the casino. Whatever you’re doing right now is going to get you killed.”
“I’m busy.”
“Come back and talk to your wife.”
“Now you want me to forgive her?”
“I want this fucking situation resolved.” He sounds exhausted. I can only imagine what he’s going through, not that it matters. It’s only a tenth of the emotional torture I’ve experienced in the last couple days.
“Send her home.”
“I can’t do that. The moment she steps off the plane in Dublin without you is the moment your little war resumes. The Grady Clan is practically salivating at the chance. Fallon’s the only thing holding them back.”
“Says her brother.”
“Our spies agree with him in this case. Which means you’re back to square one.”
“She wanted to ruin me.”
“Can’t blame her. You’re a prick.”
I rub my face. “And you’re a bastard. Anything else?”
“Talk to your wife. Come to an agreement. I’m not telling you to fall in love with her again, but I am telling you to figure this shit out. Tie her up in the basement for the next ten years for all I fucking care, just make this headache go away.”
“You’re only annoyed that Casey keeps bugging you about it.”
“Damn right. Make it go away.” He hangs up.
I rock back on my heels and shove my phone into my pocket.
It’s easy for him to make those demands. He doesn’t feel like the love of his life jabbed a hot skewer into his chest. Every morning I wake up without Fallon in my bed is a nightmare I wish I could escape. Except my dreams are horrible like even my sleeping mind can’t stand being without her.
A car pulls into the driveway. I sink lower in the darkness, staying still behind the row of bushes. A man gets out wearing cargo shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. For a moment, his face is turned away, but when he heads to the front door, he steps into the motion-activated light near the garage—
And it’s him. That fucking face. I check my phone, just to be sure, but it’s him.