Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Atlas walks straight up the stairs onto his private plane, and I follow behind him. Taking a seat in the same place I was last time I was on here, I cross my legs and turn to look out the window.
I feel his stare penetrating me.
Piercing the very fabric of my being.
But I choose not to look.
What he’s doing isn’t healthy, and I don’t want an unhealthy relationship, no matter how much my body wants him.
And my heart? Well, that bitch is as confused as ever, so there’s no way I’m listening to that.
I’ve learned the hard way about bad relationships. My mother and father had one. Lucy is a magnet for them. And, well, I want nothing to do with them or him.
Turning around to face Atlas, he doesn’t look away, keeping his sharp stare firmly and decisively on me. Those amber eyes penetrate more than my outer surface. They penetrate my fucking soul, and I can’t evict them no matter how much I try.
I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I can’t fall down his rabbit hole. Nothing good can come from it.
I will be left a shattered wreck if I give in and will be left with nothing but a shell of my former self.
Chapter Eighteen
Theadora
As soon as we are off the plane a car is waiting. Atlas holds the door open for me, and I slide in. When I’m in the car, it takes off, leaving Atlas behind.
The drive back to my home is long, and when I finally arrive, Tina is waiting on my doorstep.
“He told me you were on your way,” she says, standing and brushing off her jeans. “Do I need to kick his ass?”
I step out. “No, it’s fine.”
Another car pulls into the curb, and I recognize him as one of Atlas’s security team. He walks over and nods to both Tina and me. “Miss, I’m here to stand guard. If there is anything you need, please press this button.” He holds out a remote and passes it to me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Tina yells.
“Security, miss.” He turns and stands at the front of the house like a damn statue.
Tina reaches for my arm and pulls me inside of the house then slams the door shut behind us. “Gosh, hasn’t your life gotten exciting since you met Mr. Atlas Hyde,” she says.
I take a deep breath and shake my head.
Everything bubbles up inside of me.
Every-damn-thing.
From how my life was pre-Atlas to how it is now.
A fucked-up mess.
I can’t blame him solely, it’s also my sister’s fault. Most of it is her fault. But if it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have met Atlas. Is that some sort of fucked-up thought?
“Thea, do you want him in your life? I know you did before, but then it ended so badly. But is it still over?”
“We could never work,” I say on a shaky breath. “Never. Atlas only thinks about himself. His actions drive him. There’s never any thought process, purely his actions.”
“Well, maybe he needs to change.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. How can a man change from what he’s become accustomed to all his life? And the last thing I would want is to ask him to change for me.”
“Maybe you should. I’m sure he would… for you,” Tina says, lying back on the couch. My cell starts ringing, and Tina reaches for it. I forgot about it because, well, I was fucking kidnapped, so it was left behind and when I got home it was there waiting for me.
“Hello.” Tina listens, then sits up straighter. She stands and reaches for me. When she hangs up, she looks serious. “We have to go to the hospital. Lucy’s having the baby early.”
“I should go, right?” I ask her.
Tina looks to the floor in thought with my cell still clutched in her hand.
“Tina… I should go, shouldn’t I?”
“Do you want to go?”
“Yes,” I say. “But maybe I shouldn’t. She doesn’t want me there. She only wants Atlas,” I say with a cringe.
“Fuck her. She will be in too much pain to know the difference, and I know you won’t forgive yourself if you’re not there. Come on, let‘s go, and be with your evil bitch of a sister,” she says with an eye roll. Tina walks out of the front door with my cell in hand. I follow and slide into her car, and the security guard does the same in his own and follows behind us. When we reach the hospital, only I am allowed in with Lucy so Tina heads home, and when I go into the room she has already had the baby and is sitting up fixing her makeup.
“Where’s the baby?” I ask.
“He’s early, so he’s in special care.”
“He?” I ask with a smile on my face.
“Yeah, he. Anyway, can you call him? He isn’t answering my calls as per usual, and he needs to know the baby has arrived.”