Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Eve looked at him and there was a slight frown of puzzlement to her expression.
“You said your name is really Graham, but you changed it?”
“They called me Graham Doe at the care home I was sent to as a baby. No one knew who I was.”
“Care home?”
“Foster home. Adoption house. Care home. I don’t give a fuck what you call it. A place where kids go who are not wanted.”
Eve gasped. “Did you know your parents?”
“No.”
“And you changed your name to Grim?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“What … how … ugh … what do you do exactly?” She pressed her lips together.
Grim looked at her and knew he had to be honest. “I don’t know if there’s a title for what I do. I’m a man of many businesses. I oversee and run everything this city has to offer.”
“You’re a crook?”
“Some would say crime lord, others a street king, I don’t know what the going label is. No one fucks with me. Simple as that.”
“And what exactly do you do?” Eve asked.
Grim sat back and stared at her for a couple of minutes. He gave her a chance to retract her question, and when she didn’t, he told her. He listed his many business ventures, from drugs to loaning money, casinos, to willing women who wanted to work for him. He left nothing out. He gave it to her straight, which is what she must want.
“Why?” Eve asked.
“Because I can and because I’m good at it.”
“Why not … I don’t know … do something good? You can be a nice person.”
“To you,” Grim said. “I don’t have a nice bone in my body, and Eve, if I didn’t do what I did, someone else would simply take my place. This is how the world works. There are a lot of bad people in the world, and they need to do bad things. People need drugs, it’s an addiction they cannot sway from. Some need the luxury of the fighting ring, where rich assholes place bets on who can kill the other. Men and women also love to pay to fuck, where they can have all their untold fantasies come true. People need to loan money, fast money, and some don’t have the foresight to pay it back.” He shrugged. “Not my problem. None of it is my fucking problem. I offer what others need, and if there wasn’t a market for it, they wouldn’t come to me. I simply offer what others refuse to. But if I wasn’t around, there would be men and women who would gladly take my place. Some might make this city better, others would make it worse, and relish the chaos they had created.”
“It sounds like you’re trying to justify what you’ve done,” Eve said.
“I know what I’ve done, Eve. I know what I am. I know what I am capable of. I’ve killed people. Men and women. Some of them intent on killing me, others just got caught in the crossfire of war. I’m not a nice person. I haven’t done any nice things. In fact, I’d say the only nice thing I’ve ever done in my life is protect and marry you.”
Eve looked away and he wanted to bridge that gap, make her look at him, make her see that out of this world, she was the only person he cared about. The only person he wanted close to him. He had let Eve in. He’d never lied to her.
“Why?” Eve asked.
“Why what?”
“Why me? Did you break down that day? Was it all a ruse? I don’t know.”
“Meeting you was an accident,” Grim said. “My tire did give out. I had every intention of changing it, but you came running over and you completely blew me away. I’ve never had a woman in my life who took charge. Who was so sweet and kind. You didn’t have a clue who I was, and yet you took care of me. You handled my flat tire. From that moment, I was hooked.”
“But you didn’t know who I was?” she asked.
“No.”
“What about our second meeting?”
Grim stared at her, wanting her to look at him but understanding her lack of trust, even though he hated for her to feel that way. He kept his movements slow, as he couldn’t stand that she kept flinching. He would never hurt her.
“On the second meeting, I already knew everything about you. I have contacts who can find information about anyone. I knew who you were. I knew you had lost your parents, sold their home, and lived a simple life, residing in a small but nice apartment. Working several jobs, volunteering as well. I knew you were a good person.”
“And what? You decided you had to come and see how a person could be so good?” Eve asked.
“No, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. No one, not a woman or a man, had ever been nice to me. I’ve known nothing but the cruelty of the world. When someone was nice to me, it was because they wanted something.” He shrugged.