Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Skylar flinches as if someone struck her, then turns away and hangs her head.
Cain doesn’t react at all for long moments, just looking at me. When he finally speaks again, his tone is resigned. “You’re right. He won’t come here. So I’m proposing we go somewhere together where he’ll see us. You can go on your walk, pretend you’re training or something, alone. If we’re right… he’ll come to you.”
I nod. We go through the motions in silence. Cain assembles his team in his office and fills them in, while I mentally tally where I’ll live, where I’ll go. He dismisses them fifteen minutes later, and we have a full team that will follow us. We’ll make it look like it’s just me and Cain, but the entire time, we’ll have everyone with us.
“Violet—Miss Price,” Cain says. “Before we go, there are a few things I’ve… acquired for you.”
His formal way of speaking makes me want to cry.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s because I told him he had to grovel,” Sklyar says, glaring at him. I look at her in astonishment.
“What?”
I clamp my mouth shut.
“Because he was an asshole, he has a few things to give you to show you he’s sorry.”
“What? Do you two think I can be bought with gifts? Seriously?”
I hear a scratching at the door, and I blink in surprise. What the hell is going on here?
The door opens, and Joe comes in with a sheepish grin, holding a leash with the most adorable little pit bull puppy at the end of it. He’s tan with large ears and wide eyes, as big as Cain’s hands.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, and fall to one knee. I open my arms, and he runs to me, like he knows he’s mine. “Cain…”
The puppy leaps on my knee and laps at my face. My heart melts.
I don’t forgive him. I don’t. I will not be bought with pretty things, not now, not ever.
“I can’t take him. I won’t be bought,” I tell Cain. But I don’t put him down. I rise, cuddling the puppy to my chest. The sweet little boy sighs and nestles in, and my heart explodes.
“I’m not buying you. I’m giving you what you deserve. I’m apologizing for what I did. Take what I bought for you, they’re yours. You can take them now or take them when you go, but I’m not taking them back.”
Them?
He sighs. “You’ll see later. We have to stay focused for now, but I’ll show you everything else in time. For now… we have to go, ba—Violet.”
“I’ll call him Cudgel,” I whisper, handing the sweet boy to Skylar. “Take good care of him until I get back.”
“Oh, we will have the best wittle time, won’t we? Auntie Skylar will spoil you with all the best little things she can, sweet thing. You come with me and we will be good and busy until mama comes back.”
She leaves the office with Cudgel in tow, and when the door shuts, I’m alone with Cain.
Again.
God.
I don’t like being alone with him anymore.
“Okay, so I know I need to go but what other things did you get me? If you don’t tell me, I’ll be distracted the entire time. I have to know.”
He sighs.
“Bribery is a really low move. You’re better than that,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest so I don’t hug him. I can’t.
“This isn’t bribery. Skylar read me the riot act. She was right. I was wrong, and I should’ve been honest with you. She said to grovel. This, Violet, is me groveling. You’ll find those high-heeled boots in the closet when you pack to go.”
“Which ones?” I ask him hesitantly.
“All of them.”
All of them?
He doesn’t sound as if he’s trying to manipulate me, but I can’t help but wonder… is he?
And this is why we can’t work together anymore. I’ll always wonder if he’s trying to manipulate me, trying to get me back into his good graces. I can’t trust the man.
“The team’s assembled at the Willows,” he says in a tight voice, his eyes trained over my shoulder. It’s highly populated during the summer, but in the cooler months, there are far fewer pedestrians and civilians nearby.
“It’s so crowded there, though,” I say thoughtfully.
He nods. “It won’t be. Joe’s making sure there will be very few people there when we arrive.”
I nod. I don’t even want to know how Joe’s planning this.
“Okay.”
“Let’s go. I’ll explain on the way.”
We’re halfway to the Willows when his phone rings. Henri.
“Yeah. What is it?” Cain has zero patience.
“I looked through the diary Violet’s mom left behind. All the initials correspond to the names of people who were killed on those dates, and I believe the number next to them corresponds with the payout she received. There were not one but two Castellano deaths attributed to unnamed snipers that year, sir. Not on public record, but I have some resources I pulled together.”