Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“It’s going to be okay,” Dean assures me. “You managed to get by before your dad found you. You can do it again.”
“That’s true. I’m sure you’re right.” I wish I believed myself, but it’s not easy. Not when I know the lengths my father is willing to go to so long as it means keeping me under his thumb. And now, if there’s another family involved? Somebody he wants to form an alliance with or whatever? He’s not going to let this go. I have to be smarter than him.
My phone buzzes. Right on schedule. I pull it out, growling. “It’s Zeke. Big surprise.”
“Let me have that.” Dean holds his hand out. “Come on. Give it to me.”
“You’re not going to say anything to him, are you? Don’t. Don’t start a fight. I don’t want you to end up in trouble over this.”
“Give me the phone.” I place it in his palm with a sigh, dreading what’s about to happen. He surprises me by turning the phone off and sliding it into his coat pocket.
“Why did you do that?”
“So you won’t be tempted to let him convince you to come back. He’s only going to harass you, you know that.”
Good point. I don’t have anything to say to him, anyway. Nothing he doesn’t already know. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for trusting him. Opening myself up to him. How stupid could I be? He was never going to go against my dad. Not ever.
I look up in time to see the entrance ramp to the freeway zip past. “You missed the freeway.”
“I’m taking a different route. If he comes after us, that’s the route he’ll take.”
“I doubt he would catch up to us that fast. He was still in my dad’s office when I sneaked out.” I got lucky. The kitchen was wild, super busy with the dinner party tonight. Nobody was paying attention to insignificant little me. I guess they’re all used to Zeke being the one watching my every move—and if he didn’t think it was a problem for me to walk out through the back door, neither did they. I doubt any of them even noticed me.
Sometimes, it pays to be invisible in your own life.
“It doesn’t hurt to be careful.” I can only agree silently, resting my head against the seat. My God, how did everything fall apart all at once? It would be one thing to find out about Dad and what he does. What Zeke does for him or did. Security. I know what that means.
Learning about it would be bad enough.
But the whole marriage thing on top of it? How did he expect me to react? Acting like I was supposed to be happy. I always knew the man was clueless, but this is beyond anything I could imagine. And having the nerve to be pissed at me because I wasn’t grateful.
And I come from him. How could we be so different? Mom gave me more than just her last name, obviously. She gave me morals and principles, the knowledge of right and wrong. We might have been poor, but we never hurt anybody.
“I’m so tired,” I whisper. That word doesn’t begin to describe it. I’m empty, wrung out like an old rag. Eventually, this is all going to catch up to me and crash down over my head, and I might have to spend an entire week in bed, even though I don’t know where that bed will be or where I’ll land. I hope it’s soon since I don’t know how much longer I can go like this.
You managed to get by before your dad found you. What a weird thing to say. I never told him or anybody else specifics about my past. Only Zeke, and it’s not like those two spent time getting to know each other.
My name. Mom’s name.
Why does something seem strange about that, too? Like something invisible is tapping me on the shoulder, wanting me to pay attention. But what is it? I can’t even think.
My name. Casteel.
My father’s name. Morelli.
How did Dean know?
My eyes open slowly. I never told him my father had a different last name from mine. I never told anybody. Nobody was supposed to know—it was so obvious why, and I always suspected, didn’t I?
But of all the rules I tried to break, that wasn’t one of them. And I know for sure Zeke would never breathe the name around anybody. Not that he ever had the chance, either. He understood Dad’s need for secrecy even better than I did.
So how did Dean know I’m a member of the Morelli family?
“Can I have my phone back?” My voice is shaky, but for a different reason this time. “I want to check in with Blair. I want to see if I can meet up with her someplace.”