Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
“Very.”
“Good.”
I sighed. “Why did you let me live? You could have killed me tonight.”
Lunita put her view on the ground. “Because she loves you so much. Bigger than the moon.”
“You love me too?”
“Sometimes.” Another tear left her eye. “Not tonight.”
I swallowed. “I love you too.”
“Where did you put his body after you killed him?” She put her view back on me. “Where’s my Flower Man?”
“Does it matter. He is dead.”
“Where is he? Did you move him?”
“He is here on the property.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to piss on his grave, when annoyed.”
“Mean old lion.”
I pointed to the large statue of the huge lion roaring near rows of tulips. “My men buried him behind there.”
Lunita rose from the ground. “Help me dig him out.”
“Lunita—”
“Now!” She walked over there. “I want to say goodbye.”
God damn it.
And that was how I spent the rest of the night.
David must have been monitoring the entire situation on the cameras because he later appeared with three shovels and helped us dig. At least the ground was damp, the gardener must have watered it earlier that day.
Sweat dripped down my chest.
With every scoop of dirt, my stomach tightened and twisted.
By dawn, we had the gardener’s body out and laying on the ground. There, Lunita clung to his cold form, sobbing into his chest, kissing his battered face, and whispering goodbye.
That image would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Chapter 11
The Mirror
Emily
I woke in a safe cocoon of Kaz’s arms. He held me close and tight. His warm muscle encased me. The steady thump, thump, thump of his heart sounded beneath my ear.
God, I love him.
His skin was warm and smooth under my cheek.
I breathed in and caught the scent of cedar, sharp and clear, like a new pencil or a Christmas tree. Kaz smelled like a forest and I couldn’t stop myself from drawing in one long breath, pulling his scent deep into my lungs. Underneath lay the softer smell of sage, but only a hint of it.
Wait. Why does he smell like the outside or. . .a garden?
That made my whole body tense.
His scent didn’t make any sense. We’d made love in the shower last night. The whole time he doused himself in my expensive shampoo.
When I fell asleep in his arms, a lavender fragrance radiated from him.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Daylight filtered through the slightly opened curtains.
I spotted a bandage on one arm.
Excuse me?
I widened my eyes.
What happened? He didn’t have that on before.
Slowly, I slipped out of his hold, making sure I didn’t wake him.
There, just under the crook of his elbow, was a bright red mark. It looked like a small bruise.
But that is impossible. Unless. . .
A chill surged up my spine.
Did Lunita show up?
I gritted my teeth.
She better not have hurt him.
I was about to slowly lift the big bandage on his other arm, when I caught Emilio’s crib next to the bed.
What?
I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was seeing the right thing. We never kept Emilio in here. He had his own big room with his nanny next to him.
My goal was to keep our bedroom as our sensual space of love.
I slowly sat up and confirmed that Emilio slept within it.
What’s going on?
I looked around.
Paolo?
My little one slept in a curled up ball right next to me.
Wait a minute. Why would Kaz have Paolo in here with us too?
That was when I saw Maxwell knocked out on the floor by the bed with several pillows and blankets. Lemonisha stood proud in the corner, bigger than ever. Lemons dangled from her branches.
Okay. Something happened for sure. Lunita showed up.
Terror rode my heart.
And. . .
I looked out all of the males in my life sleeping around me.
Kaz wanted me surrounded by love when I woke up. Which meant that Lunita did something that would be impossible for me to forgive.
What could it be?
My mind raced with dread, imagining the worst.
I slipped out of bed. Whatever had happened it had exhausted the hell out of Kaz and Max. I placed my feet on the floor, stepped over Max, and touched my head.
Fuck.
Someone had braided my hair into five thick cornrows.
Max.
Fear and guilt clashed inside me, begging for some sort of release. I had enough of this bullshit—her coming out at night and causing chaos, the men in my life cleaning my body up of blood and taking care of my messes.
Enough.
I tip toed toward the door. With trembling fingers I grabbed the knob.
What the hell did you do this time, Lunita?
I slowly twisted it, opened the door, took a deep breath, and snuck out.
Blue, David, and Giorgio were slumped in chairs near the door. Each had been close to sleep.
They all looked at me.
Good. I didn’t kill any of them.
Relief washed through me.
I shut my bedroom door behind me. “What happened?”
Blue jumped up. “We were ordered not to say anything.”