Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Damn. Seemed like he would do just that.
“That’s mean,” she muttered.
“That me, Meanie Malone.”
She snorted. That was actually a pretty funny nickname. She might have to use that when he was being Mr. Bossy. Not Mr. Fun.
“Don’t get any ideas.” He waggled a finger at her. “You’re not allowed to call me that.”
Yeah . . . too late.
Tanner sighed. “You’re totally going to call me that, aren’t you?”
She nodded, her head spinning slightly. She took a deep breath.
“Okay, baby?” he asked quietly.
“Just a bit dizzy. I really can’t afford this.”
“You don’t have to worry about medical insurance or your name going into the system.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I told them you were my wife.”
“Tanner! You can’t do that! That’s fraud.”
“Eh, what are they gonna do about it?”
“Arrest you!”
“Don’t worry about that. Alec will bail me out.”
“Tanner.” She started pulling at the monitors attached to her. That’s when she noticed a needle in the top of her hand. She had a drip? Why?
“Stop moving,” he said firmly. “You going to injure yourself.”
“Tanner . . . there’s a drip.”
“Yes, it’s giving you fluids. You were severely dehydrated.” He gave her another stern look. “That won’t be happening again.”
“M.M,” she muttered. Old Meanie Malone strikes again.
“Lilac, you’re in big trouble.”
Her mouth dropped open. “How am I in big trouble? It’s not my fault I’m sick. Although I don’t really feel sick, just kind of dizzy and weak.”
Tanner sighed, looking at her worriedly. “I should get the doctor.”
“No, please. Wait.” She rubbed at her forehead. “I want to know what’s going on first. How did I get here? Why are you here? And did you really think the best idea was to tell them I’m your wife? Don’t people here know you?”
He hummed. “Yeah. Good point. Might be why I’ve had a few strange looks.”
“Tanner!”
“Don’t panic. I told the administrator that I would settle the bill but that you needed to use my last name as you’re on the run from an abusive brother.”
“You . . . what?” she whispered.
“Figure that’s close enough to the truth, am I right?” He sat down again.
“You know?” she asked. She hadn’t told him that exactly.
“Not everything, baby. You’ll have to tell me the rest. But we’ve pieced together enough details to come to that conclusion. I’m still not sure where Opal and Ryleigh come into it, though.”
“We?” she asked, focusing on that part.
“Me, Jake, Alec, and Linc.”
“You’ve been asking questions about me?” This just kept getting worse and worse. “What if he finds me? He’s going to find me.”
She couldn’t breathe. What if Stefan discovered them?
“Listen to me.” He grabbed her chin, turning her to face him. “Listen. No one is going to hurt you.”
“You don’t understand.”
She felt so helpless. So weak. She couldn’t afford to be weak. She had so much she had to do.
“I don’t. But I will soon because you’re going to tell me.”
“You can’t . . . you can’t bully me into it.”
She’d already decided to tell him. Heck, six months ago, she’d been going to tell him some of what was going on. Now . . . she’d tell him it all. He deserved to know.
However, he couldn’t just demand it. That was rude.
“I won’t have to. You’ll tell me because you want to. Because me and my family will take care of you.”
She gaped up at him. That wasn’t exactly what she’d expected him to say. “Your family?”
“Yep. No one fucks with the Malones.”
“But I’m not a Malone.” Her heart raced for an entirely different reason. She didn’t even know his family. She’d only met Raid.
“Didn’t we just have this conversation, baby? You’re a Malone now. And we look after our own.”
“You do?” she whispered.
He gave her a strange look. “Yeah, Lilac. Of course we do.”
“Family is important?”
Understanding filled his face. “Yeah, family is important. Not everyone treats their family like your brother treated you.”
Oh. That’s why he looked like that. He thought she was thinking about Stefan.
“You and your family don’t owe me anything. I can take care of myself,” she said firmly.
He snorted. “Right. Clearly, you can’t, or you wouldn’t have collapsed on the side of the road early in the morning.”
Oh God.
So that’s what had happened? That’s how she ended up here? A vague memory came back to her.
“Who found me? When? What time is it now?” she asked.
“It’s ten. Opal woke up and discovered you were gone and alerted Linc. He went searching for you. He found you on the fucking pavement, passed out. Do you know what could have happened to you? What were you thinking?”
She flinched as his sharp tone and words hit her. Fuck, what had she been thinking?
Obviously, she hadn’t.
What sort of idiot went for a run on their own at that time of night? And then she’d collapsed . . . what if she’d passed out in the middle of the road and someone had run her over?