Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I do my best to quiet the fluttering thoughts and fears in my head.
I lean my head against his chest and listen to the steady beat of his heart. My body sinks into sleep.
NINE
Lyam
Cosette sleeps for hours.
She’s so beautiful when she sleeps.
I sit beside her and ghost the outline of her brows with the tip of my finger. Down the contours of her cheeks and the full pout of her lips. I rest my hand on her back, steadied by the gentle cadence of her breathing.
I’ve never loved any woman. It’s a foreign concept to me and strange to think that Lyam Gerard, player extraordinaire and Gerard family black sheep, has fallen for a woman.
But how could I not?
She’s sunshine and daisies and all things good and wholesome, and I’m… not. She yearns to serve, and I yearn to command.
Now that I know what happened, I know she had good reason. I can’t fault her. Not now.
So when my phone rings and I see it’s Thayer on the line, I pick it up.
I’ll fight him if I have to.
I’ll win.
“Where the fuck are you?”
“You know where I am.”
“Is this phone safe?” Fabien’s voice. Three-way call.
Jesus. “It’s fucking safe. I was the one who programmed it. You two pussies can’t make a fucking phone call without the other on the line?” I roll my eyes heavenward. I guess it’ll make things easier for me in the long run.
“Alright, Lyam. What the hell happened?”
I tell them how we got into a chase and that I suspect we’ve been set up.
“I’ve checked all calls and records, prompted by Philippe,” Thayer says. “There’s no record that the police had anything at all to do with this. Every member of their force is accounted for at the time of the chase.”
I clench my jaw. “Motherfucker.”
So someone posed as the police to scare us. It was a setup.
I’ll remember that.
“You’re safe to leave, Lyam. They aren’t after you.”
“Yet,” Fabien responds. “I’ve never seen the citizens so restless. Montague’s got it so that every fucking thing is blamed on organized crime.
“Abduction in Marseille? Mafia. Racketeering in Nice? Mafia. Murder in Roubaix? Mafia. Bad weather coming? Fucking mafia.”
“I’m honored,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.
What an asshole.
While it’s good to know we’re safe, I don’t want to take Cosette out of here, not again. I know she was joking, but she mentioned building a nursery here. I saw the way her eyes lit up when I gave her the tour.
If we go back to my home, my family and friends will know I’m there.
I want privacy for a little while.
I want some time alone with her.
And hell, I like knowing how safe we are here.
I want to reconnect with Cosette. Does she want to be with me? After all we’ve been through, for the love of God, we need some time to just be with each other.
“Lyam?”
“Yeah?”
“You thinking what I am?” Fabien asks.
“That I need to pay Rousseau a visit? Yeah.”
There’s a pregnant pause as I wait for one of them to ask the question we’re all thinking. Finally, Thayer’s the one who does the honors.
“You gonna tell us or do we have to drag it out of you?”
“What?” I ask, as if I don’t know for a fact they want an update on Cosette.
Fabien, as the oldest, heads this gig but he takes input from all of us and in the end, it’s all of us that run this.
“We want an update on your prisoner.”
“Remember?” Thayer snaps. “The one who tried to kill my wife?”
“She didn’t try to kill her. Jesus.”
Thayer’s growl travels really well through the phone.
“But yeah, I’ve got an update.” I stand and straighten my shoulders. I don’t know if it will be easy for them to accept her at her word. “Cosette’s pregnant.”
The slew of curses makes me pull the phone away from my ear for a minute.
“I’m guessing you verified this,” Fabien groans.
“Yeah. I did. I confirmed that she’s pregnant, and I confirmed that I’m the father.”
“No shit?” he asks.
“Excuse me if I’m not popping champagne celebrating that that woman’s gonna have one of my nieces or nephews,” Thayer snaps.
“Listen, I know where you’re coming from,” I tell Thayer. “I do. If I were in your position, I’d feel the same.”
“But what?” he snaps.
“I know her reasons now.”
“Well light me a cigar and call me uncle,” Thayer mutters. “You care to share?”
“I do,” I tell him with a sigh. “The Chaberts knew about the baby. They fucking threatened to terminate the pregnancy.”
There’s another pause as this news settles in.
“Are you kidding me?” Fabien growls. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Yeah. I told Cosette that it’s a good thing they’re dead.”
“Better to be dead than to be your enemy,” Fabien supplies.
He’s not wrong.
“Well. Maybe it’s good you didn’t kill her then,” Thayer finally reluctantly admits.
Maybe?
Jesus.
“She’s apologetic, brother. I know this is hard to hear, but I mean it. She didn’t want to hurt Savannah. You know how quickly she came to us.”