Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
And what fucking disease are they talking about? I started to panic at the thought that I might have caught something, but we’d used protection, except for that one time, but nothing had come of that surely; it was only the once.
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I was ready to chuck it, but this would be my third or fourth in a couple of months, and the last thing I needed was the hassle of having to buy a new one.
‘Did you like your flowers? We know you like the smell. You might want to go to the doctor soon. Your face is about to fall off.’ What? I looked across the room at the bouquet that had arrived early this morning. I’d been so surprised and pleasantly pleased thinking that Ryder had been the one to send them even though there was no card attached.
The fact that one of his watchdogs had brought them to me convinced me that they were from him. I ran from the room in search of the man who’d brought them to me just as my cheeks started to burn.
I changed course and headed to my bedroom and a mirror, and what I saw made my blood run cold. My screams were loud and air-splitting, but no one came to my rescue as I fell to the floor in pain and shock. Not my face; what’s Ryder going to think?
I rolled around on the floor, tearing at the burning, itching flesh on my cheeks, wondering why this was happening to me. Why had my life come to this? Is it so wrong to want to be loved by the man I’d fallen in love with even before I knew what love was?
Was it so bad that I wanted him even though he belonged to someone else? Shouldn’t the true love I felt for him mean more than anything else in the world? I screamed until I lost my voice, and the pain in my face only grew worse.
Like a moth to a flame, I couldn’t resist taking another look at the horror that my skin had become. Red ugly blotches formed around the peeling skin of my cheeks as my eyes grew puffier even as I looked at myself. As I looked closer, I saw that it was even worse, as something like boils started to form in the midst of the blotches.
Who had sent me those flowers? Did I really have to ask? The text made it obvious that this unknown MengeLiNi person was behind the attack, and for the first time since they started, I felt real fear.
Chapter 50
*Ryder*
As expected, she wasn’t handling the news of Rachel’s betrayal very well. I held her through her crying jag, which broke my heart into pieces, and then I had a hard time getting her to calm down and not do anything rash once the tears were over.
She wanted to confront the other woman as soon as she returned in a day or two, but I had something better up my sleeve, something I was hoping she’d agree to not only for her sake but for my own peace of mind as well.
Since I couldn’t stay here with her just yet, there was no way I wanted her here alone, so when she took a trip to the bathroom to wash her face, I made a quick call to the guys with my suggestion. Since we didn’t have a lot of time before she got back, I didn’t exactly get an answer from them, not that I needed one in this situation.
As long as it was about her safety, I wasn’t about to take any chances, and I was almost certain they’d see things my way. So I waited for her return to put my plan into action and hoped for the best, meaning I hoped I didn’t have to overpower her so soon after we’d mended things, which, knowing how stubborn she is, could be an issue.
I broached the subject as delicately as I could without giving too much away, knowing that if she knew the whole truth of what I was asking, she’d deny me. But this was the best course of action for her safety, so I was willing to face her considerable wrath.
“You want me to just disappear?”
“Not really, no, just tell them you’re taking some downtime. You’ve done it before, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.”
“And where pray tell will I be going? I don’t really feel like traveling, and besides, I have to be back in New York in a week or so.”
I’d almost forgotten that filming for her new series was about to start back again soon. “That’s fine, I just want you away from her for the time being, and since she doesn’t travel there with you, it should be okay. One more thing, I want to make sure that place is secure as well. Will you let me?” I plan to ask Tyler and Zak about seeing about that since they seemed more capable than anyone I could hire on my own.