Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
How could he?
I closed my eyes and lifted my face into the spray, trying in vain to steady my breathing. Jesus Christ. I could barely take in a full breath. I was fuming. My jaw tight, I switched off the water and stepped out, toweling off my body then my hair.
From my place in front of the bathroom mirror, my entire being stilled when I heard him. “Morning, bud. Ready for school?”
So domestic. So familiar. As if he belonged here.
My lip curled.
How dare he?
My teeth ground as I slipped into my panties and bra. Sliding on black sweats and a tight gray spaghetti strap tank, I ran my fingers through my wet hair and threw open the bathroom door, stepping out into the hall barefoot and catching Twitch helping A.J. put his backpack on.
When those soft brown eyes met mine, he watched me a second before slapping a light hand on A.J.’s shoulder, squeezing. “I think Mom’s feeling better, bud.”
No, she wasn’t, you fucking asshole.
Molly watched me carefully, and when I met her weary gaze and whispered a rough, “Get him out of here,” she took A.J.’s hand before looking between the two adults in the room, one of which simply stood there, his lips drawn into a thin line, while the other had murder in her eyes.
As my son passed me, I knelt down and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him with everything I had in me before forcing a smile. “Have a good day, honey. I love you.”
But A.J. was a smart child and he hesitated, before asking a reluctant, “Are you mad at Daddy?”
I didn’t want to lie to him. I never had before, so I looked up at Twitch, looked him dead in his beautiful eyes, the same eyes that haunted my dreams for years, and stated a cold, “Yes, I am. And Daddy”—the word was sour on my tongue and made my stomach flip with unconcealed dread—“and I are going to talk about that.”
Molly led a concerned-looking A.J. out of the house, and the moment the door shut, I faltered, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do.
Twitch stood in the wide kitchen entrance, looking down at his feet, his jaw tight, and I took that moment to roam him.
Why?
Why were the years apart so kind to him when he didn’t deserve it? Why did he have to look the way he did?
He was dressed in dark fitted jeans that hugged his long legs, a tight black long-sleeved tee that showed off his broad chest and shoulders, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows revealing his veiny, tattooed forearms. My throat tightened in a way that cut off my air supply.
It was so cruel. In my mind, I’d imagined him a thousand times looking just as he was right now, only in my dreams, I was happy to see him. A far cry from how I felt at the present.
Running a hand through his too-long hair, he paused to scratch as the too-long stubble on his sharp jaw and peeked up at me through his lowered gaze. His nose was swollen, and the purple bands under his eyes told me Julius hadn’t held back when he tore into him, and that pleased me. He ran a nervous tongue across his full bottom lip, his hands clenching then unclenching in a move that told me he might have been anxious, but I didn’t know for sure. This man had always been good at hiding his true emotions.
If he wasn’t anxious, he should have been.
When he spoke, I wanted to kill him myself. “I missed you.”
The intense fury that lit in my belly was warm but soon raged into a fiery inferno. I found the fucking words.
My voice was quiet, giving off false calm. “You missed me?”
Oh, no, he did not. I know he did not try it.
A single step closer, a whole new level of rage. “You missed me?” Another step, another internal meltdown. Eyes wild, I whispered, “Is that what you said just now? You missed me?”
My heart was beating so fast I thought I might be having a heart attack. It wouldn’t have surprised me, given the circumstances. It was already broken anyways, so what was a malfunction to boot?
Twitch looked me right in the eye, that smooth whiskey voice floating over me as I seethed. “That’s what I said, baby.”
My neck began to heat with raw fury. My hands shook, and when I took the final step over to him, I looked up into his face and blinked at the gall of this man.
When I lifted my hand, reared back, and slapped him across the cheek as hard I could, the sound echoed in the open space surrounding us. He barely flinched, and that only made me madder. Panting, I grit my teeth, raised my hand, and put as much force behind it as I could. When the loud crack sounded, my soul celebrated the way he winced from the blow.