Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
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I wake in a bed that I know well. It’s one of my brother’s spare rooms. My head pounds, my jaw hurts, and I’m covered in sweat. I all but fall out of bed and stumble to the adjoining bathroom. I throw water on my busted face. I can’t open my right eye, and my lips are busted. I feel like I was fucking hit by a truck.
Opening the glass shower door, I turn the shower on and strip out of my clothes before stepping in. My legs are too weak to hold myself up, so I sit down and lean my head against the cold tile.
“You shouldn’t have brought him here.” I hear Emilee’s voice.
“Babe, he needs—”
“His ass needs to be in fucking rehab,” she snaps, interrupting Titan.
The bedroom door slams open, and they must hear me in the shower because the bathroom door flies open next. She charges toward the shower as if she’s seen me naked a hundred times. I make no move to cover myself. We all know how much she likes dick.
“You son of a …”
“Em,” Titan snaps and pulls her back to him.
“She’s …”
“It’s not your place,” he tells her.
She breaks down in front of me like a house of cards falling to the floor. Her body sags against his arms, and tears flow down her face. She sobs and covers her face with her hands. He spins her around, and she buries her face into his shirt.
I continue to sit on the shower floor watching her have a fucking breakdown. “And they say I need help.”
She sniffs, spins around, and narrows her eyes on me. “She will never forgive you for this,” she whispers, shaking her head. “She will never look at you and not hate you for what you did to her!” she screams.
That gets my attention. I sit up, and she turns, running out of the bathroom.
“What’s she talking about?” I demand to Titan.
“Finish up in the shower and come downstairs.”
“Titan—”
“April is here,” he interrupts me.
Hope blooms in my chest. “She wants to see me?”
He shakes his head. “She doesn’t know you’re here.”
I frown. “Why am I here?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Because I believe in second chances. And … I know the guy that you can be, Grave.” My heart begins to pound. He sighs. He opens his mouth like he has more to say, but at the last minute, he decides against it. Then he turns around and walks out.
I finish up in the shower and find a Kingdom shirt and a pair of clean jeans on the bed. I pull them on and make my way downstairs. “Where is she?” I ask the moment I enter the kitchen. Everyone is accounted for except her.
No one looks up at me but Titan. He walks past me and down the hall. I follow him. He comes to a stop at a door, and he opens it quietly. My heart stops when I see April. She lies on her side, in the fetal position facing me. Her eyes are tightly shut, and her body shakes with soft sobs.
I rush over to her. “April?” I ask hoarsely.
She doesn’t open her eyes. Instead, she begins to sob louder. Harder.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, reaching out and running my busted knuckles down her tear-streaked face.
She buries her head into the comforter as her hands grip it. I pull away from her and get into bed where I can pull her into my lap. “April …”
She sobs. I silently rock her back and forth while she breaks in my arms. “If it’s because of me, talk to me please, baby.” Is she injured?
She starts pounding her fists into my chest, and I let her.
“Tell me you’re okay.” Maybe it’s just an emotional breakdown.
“I’ll never be okay,” she cries.
“April …”
She jumps up from my arms and out of bed. I stand to follow her but stay where I am when I see she’s just going over to her purse. She bends down, digging through it. And pulls something out. Coming back over to me, she shoves it into my chest. I grab it and look down. It’s a pregnancy test. I swallow as I look at it.
She’s pregnant.
I got her pregnant. Then I failed her. I showed her that I’m nothing. Just like her father. I can’t be there for her. Not the way she needs. Now I’m going to be a father. “I … I’m sorry.” I swallow the lump in my throat. Looking back up at her, I take her hand in mine.
I believe in second chances, Titan had said. He knew. She will never forgive you … so does Emilee. They all do. I’m the last one to find out.
Tears run down her face, and I lick my lips. “I can do better. I will be better. For you … for the baby …”