Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 114936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t add up,” King adds from his spot in front of the fireplace. “Bam Bam taking him, shooting her, and running. Why wouldn’t Bam Bam kill her?”
“He didn’t shoot her. He grazed her,” Eli says carefully. “He knew exactly where to shoot.”
“And was he alone?” Kenan asks, leaning his elbows on his thighs as he shifts forward on the couch.
“No, Dove was there. She’s been with him all along.”
I pause, the grip around my glass tensing. “What do you mean all along?”
“Dove and Dominic have had something—”
“—she’s a prisoner there, Keaton. Dove has never wanted to be under Dominic.” Lilith’s voice echoes out and my eyes land on King. I can’t have this conversation with Eli or Kyrin. They’re both blinded by their love for Lilith that they won’t see what I’m feeling.
What I’m pretty sure King is feeling.
King sighs, massaging his temples. “Fuck. What a headfuck.” Before he’s said anything else, Nate and Bishop walk through the entrance, stopping when they see us all deep in conversation.
“I take it we haven’t figured anything else out?” Nate asks, looking around the room.
“No.” I shoot back the rest of my drink and slam the glass onto the coffee table. “But I’m about to.” Standing from the sofa, I move around Nate and Bishop and take the stairs up to the master level. On any other day, Kyrin probably would have fought me on what I’m about to do, but he and I both know that road is over. There were two reasons why he wanted me to stay away from Cartier.
One was because of my extracurricular activities, but the other? Was because of her not knowing who I really was.
She does now, and either way, how I play this game going forward is up to me.
The patterns carved into the twin doors that open into her suite have been sliced with blades from our ancestors, the intricate curves of the Kiznitch star and the four families.
“She’s grumpy,” Jordan says from one side.
“More than usual,” Chris adds from the other.
“Yeah?” I say to both of them. “Good. She fucks better when she’s mad.” Shoving through the doors, she stops walking and her hands fall to the sides, where she quickly ends the call with whomever it is she’s talking. Her room is perfection. The four-post bed, the old open fireplace burning opposite, and the net curtains covering the open bay windows near the patio.
“Keaton, you can’t just walk in!” I watch as the grip around her phone intensifies.
I take another step. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.” She shakes her head, stepping backward. Her long hair is more of a washed-out teal now instead of a hard blue, and somehow, it works for her even more.
Her cheeks flush, and I’m reminded of her age. Caught up in the drama, the labels that we all hold, I forget how young she truly is. Too young to be standing toe-to-toe with a notorious killer.
“I know when you’re lying,” I say the words slowly to be sure that she catches them. She does, in a grip so fucking tight it almost replicates the way she feels around my cock.
Her shoulders widen back and her chin juts upward. It looks hella cute on her, since I think she’s about as scary as a blunt knife held to my throat in the middle of broad daylight. “Do you, though?” Her eyes narrow as I take the final step into her space and her back slams against the concrete wall. Her throat constricts when she swallows, but it’s not in fear. As scary as I may be to most people—all people who are smart enough—I’m not to her. It has both enraged and turned me on over the years. Her next words are a soft whisper. “You’re the liar, Keaton.”
“I never lied to you, Cartier…” I test her patience, bringing my finger to the side of her face and tracing the curve of her high set cheekbones.
She winces and my eyes fly to hers, my finger pausing as if I’ve physically hurt her. And maybe I have. I never really thought about it until now. I know she loves me, but does she still now that everything has gone? After what she has learned, and what she’s most likely about to learn when it comes to Dominic Stranger and whatever secrets he’s holding on to?
She turns her face away from my touch and I’m the one wincing. “I can’t do this with you.”
“No questions, though?” I ask, rage slowly building inside of me. I expected more of a fight from her. Anything more than what she’s giving me, yet I saw more of a fight from her when it came to getting Eli back. “No, ‘why did you do it, Keaton?’” I run my eyes over her face like I’m never going to see it again. “What about ‘why did you come and visit me after you killed people?’”