Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
For some reason, I found it odd that they would want something like that. Their actions seemed to put them way above such mundane things as my name on a piece of paper. They hadn’t exactly been quiet the last few days, but things had died down some. It kind of feels like the calm before the storm. Ryder, having realized that my mind had wandered again, instead of getting incensed as he once would, just nuzzled me and snuggled in closer.
“Okay, fine, but while you’re there, I think you should start planning our wedding.” I don’t know why his words came as such a surprise. It’s what I wanted, what we both wanted, I think, but hearing him say it so nonchalantly brought tears to my eyes.
“No, don’t cry.”
“These are happy tears.” Still, he wiped them from my eyes and kissed my brow, something else he’d taken to doing whenever the mood struck. Maybe he really had changed completely, or perhaps it was me knowing what he’d endured, but something had changed inside of me for him as well. I no longer distrusted him. I no longer felt like I had to keep him at arm’s length even if we did get back together, I trusted him, and that is a huge hurdle to jump.
I looked at him now as I turned in his arms to cup his cheek. “No, we’ll plan our wedding together.” I could’ve said something about his hasty shod of a wedding but refrained from doing so. I’ve taken enough shots at him already in the last week and will probably do so again in the future, but now was not the time to bring that mess here to our bed.
***
*Scott*
Things aren’t so bad after all. For a moment there, it seemed like everything was going to shit, but now Ryder had that great deal with Saunders for good money, his image was being cleaned up a bit by his association with the great man, and things were starting to settle down at last.
I regret every day the decision to have him marry Janie Andrews. Elena was a bitch, sure, always wanting things done in a manner that she could live with where Ryder was concerned as if it had anything to do with her. But this one was a nightmare. She’d fooled us all into thinking she was a nice Christian girl with the type of morals and ethics one would expect from someone who supposedly grew up in the church, but she was far from what she pretended to be.
Her obsession with Ryder was one thing, but she’d amped up the crazy as soon as the ink was dry on the marriage certificate. I’m still peeved that she’s going to get all that money once he gets rid of her, something I am sure will be coming soon now that he’s sober and no longer under her influence, but I’m no longer afraid that he’d realized my part in all that since he’s been in communication with me a lot more lately and we were even talking about setting up a tour to make up for the one he’d left halfway through.
I took a sip of my cocktail as I looked out over the water from my Malibu home. It still tickles me to say that; me, the kid who had dropped out of college on a whim when everyone else was telling me it was a bad idea, had made it all the way to the top. It helps to know things that can get you things that you want.
Others had gone the same way as me, but they were more interested in working for their money, while I wanted my money to work for me. So what if that money came through less than ethical means? If people didn’t want their dirty laundry aired, they shouldn’t do dirty shit. I had to laugh at that one because I, too, was guilty of things I wanted to keep hidden. The only difference is I was smart enough to put things in place to see that they remained that way.
The phone chimed, and I reached over to the table to pick it up. The message didn’t seem to make sense at first until the second one came. “We’ll give you fifty million for Ryder Sumner’s catalog in two days. No negotiation.” I snorted at the obvious prank and wondered fleetingly how the person got my private number. I was about to put the phone away when it chimed again, and that’s when I knew it wasn’t a joke.
“You don’t comply; we go public with this.” The image that came through next had all the blood leaving my head. I looked around as if expecting someone to be standing there behind me. How did this person know about this? This isn’t possible. I felt the cold hand of dread run down my spine. What the hell am I supposed to do? This can’t happen, this cannot happen, not now.