Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“She is, and they are,” my dad murmurs softly.
Oh my god! He has two kids by a woman who isn’t my mom—his wife. “But you’re still married to mom!”
“Heather and I aren’t married. We’re engaged, though. I was waiting for your mom to get out of the facility before giving her the papers.”
“You knew she was in a facility?” I shout. “Those little boys aren’t babies! And that woman doesn’t even know you have a daughter!”
“Giselle, please let me explain.”
“No! Fuck you, Dad!” I’m about to storm away when I remember the papers I need him to sign. I turn back around and push the contract into his chest. “The house sold. You need to sign these papers, and don’t you dare even think for a second you’re getting a penny. Did you take out the second loan on the mortgage to purchase this place?”
“No, Heather has her own money.” I notice he doesn’t explain what he did take the money out for. At this point, though, it doesn’t matter. I just need him to sign these damn papers so I can deal with what he left behind.
“Just sign the papers,” I tell him.
He nods once.
Knowing how upset I am, Killian goes with my dad to get the papers notarized while I wait in his car. When they return, my dad tries to speak to me, but I refuse. He made his choice, and clearly he’s having no problem living with it.
“Do not bring those divorce papers to mom to sign,” I say before he walks away. “Send them to me, and when she’s healthy enough, I’ll tell her the man she married is a lying, cheating, asshole.”
Dad looks like he wants to say something, but I don’t give him a chance. “Don’t ever contact any of us again. As far as I’m concerned you’re no longer part of our family…not that you’ve been for a long time.” I roll up my window and wait for Killian to get in.
I try to tell him I’d like to be dropped off at my place, but in typical Killian-fashion, he ignores me completely. Once we’re inside his place and changed into comfier clothes, he pulls me into his side on the couch.
“It feels like today has been the never-ending day.” I laugh humorlessly.
He lifts me into his lap and kisses me tenderly. “How about I make you forget about today?”
“That sounds like a damn good idea to me.”
Killian kisses me harder this time, his fingers reaching up and pinching my nipples. My fingers thread through the strands of his hair. We kiss for God knows how long, getting lost in each other. Eventually, he carries me into his room and lays me on the bed. We remove each other’s clothes and then he spreads my legs and enters me slowly. He makes love to me several times, successfully making me forget the craziness of today.
Twenty-Three
Killian
“Damn, I don’t want to pat my own back, but this sleeve is going to look fresh as hell when it’s done. Shit, it already does.” Jase turns the gun off and the buzzing sound immediately stops. He brings a handheld mirror down to my arm so I can see the new work he’s added. He’s right. It looks damn good. What started out as a tattoo of my college team football helmet has turned into an entire collage of my career. From my NFL team logo to the numerals from the super bowl we won last year. Today, though, I had him add in something more personal. The quote on the back of the heart I gave Giselle on Valentine’s Day has been artfully wrapped around my bicep and woven through several of my other tattoos. I know it’s only been a couple weeks since we made this thing we have going on between us official, but I can feel it. She’s it for me.
My phone rings, so I pull it out of my pocket while Jase rubs Vaseline across the new artwork. The caller ID shows it’s my brother.
“Hey, bro, what’s up?”
“I have news on Melanie.” Damn, straight to the point. The other night while lying in bed, Giselle mentioned again that maybe I should find Melanie to get some closure. So, the following night when she said she had to work late and couldn’t come over, I went over to my brother’s place for dinner and told him everything. And like I knew he would, he agreed I needed closure and told me he would get Melanie’s contact info.
“All right.”
“She’s living in North Carolina…Cedar Wood Acres.”
“She’s back living where we went to school?” It would make sense since she once told me she grew up there, but it’s weird to imagine her back after she made it a point to run away from that very same place all those years ago. She even went as far as to drop out of school just to get away.