Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
He buried his face in Rory’s neck and inhaled her fresh, clean scent. She should have smelled like the bar, but her skin gave off a subtle fragrance of lavender and citrus, soothing him.
“I believe just meeting you, Rory, saved my life. Just knowing you’re in the world.”
Her fist bunched in his hair and then stroked caresses into his scalp. “Don’t say that, Gideon.”
For the first time, there was a small tremor in her voice. A hint of fear, of trepidation, and more knots in his gut formed and tightened. He could face bullets and torture. He wasn’t so certain he could face losing her again after the very real hope of having her back.
“I swore I’d give you the truth no matter what it cost me, Red.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about us.”
She whispered her confession against his heart, her breath warm through the material of his shirt. He felt the heat of her breath on his skin, branding his muscles and bones as if she could brand him.
“I feel like such a coward after hearing what you’ve been through, but . . .” She trailed off.
“We’ll talk about it,” Gideon said. “I should have talked about everything with you. I should have given you these things about me before I even tried to hook you in close. I was afraid you wouldn’t even take a chance with me. I’ve got so much violence inside. It comes easily to me, and you’re soft inside. I thought if you knew the real me, you’d run away so fast, I’d never be able to find you and explain.”
He kept her there on his lap, his arms tight, when he sensed she was thinking of pulling away from him. He needed her to stay when he told her what happened next. “Just settle for a couple more minutes, Rory. There’s so much more, but this is the more that could have been prevented if I had just followed through and done what I should have. Sometimes I have an intuition or premonition, not even that exactly. It’s more of a very strong gut feeling that I need to take action. When I was a kid, because that feeling involved violence, I refused to act on it. I didn’t want to be anything like my father. I abhorred anything in me that had to do with violence, afraid it made me like him. That particular sensation was very strong and would trigger flashbacks of the horrific, brutal things I’d seen him do.”
“That would be natural, Gideon.”
He stroked her hair. He loved that mass of cherry-colored silk. The soft richness of it. The color. The wild, untamed riot of waves and curls that seemed to drive her crazy but made him want to slam her up against the nearest wall and claim her for his own.
“I suppose so, but back then, I rejected anything that in any way connected me to my father. I should have known Elio Barone would eventually come back into my life. He was a greedy man and lived for power. He had such a thirst to be the man everyone feared. Even as a kid, I knew that about him. I could read it when I spoke to him. He was evil. I saw it in his eyes. His soul was completely rotted through, just like my father’s was. Even back then, when I was a kid, I came to the conclusion that evil men surrounded themselves with evil men. They find others they can corrupt.”
As he’d been sent on missions to various places around the world, he’d found that premise to be true. Power seemed to corrupt and evil crept in. The need to control and gain more power became the ultimate goal, stamping out humanity in certain individuals until they seemed to have no moral compass.
“Barone sent his men to Mack’s neighborhood, the one sanctuary left to us. His mother would allow us to sleep in her house. She’d feed us. It wasn’t like she had money, but that never mattered to her. She found a way to get clothes for the younger ones. It was freezing in the winter months, and we’d huddle down in the basement with blankets and sleeping bags. She provided hot stew and bread. Her little car was one of the ones Barone’s men rammed with their giant truck. She died instantly.”
Rory’s body jerked. “Oh, Gideon. I’m so sorry. How terrible for Mack. For you. For all of you.”
“She’d taken in Jaimie after Jaimie’s mother had been murdered. Now all of us were without a home—due to my negligence.”
“No. That’s not right. You can’t possibly believe that, and I certainly hope Mack doesn’t. Or Jaimie. You have nothing to do with what your father or Barone did.”
This time there was no stopping Rory from pulling out of his arms and jumping to the patio floor. She was all pent-up energy. A hot, restless flame rejecting his conclusion completely—furious that he would even consider such a possibility. He was certain if the sun was out, her hair would crackle with outrage. For him. She was standing up for him. Not condemning him as he’d expected her to do.