Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I rush into her and throw my arms around her, squeezing the living shit out of her. “No,” I say as she wraps her arms around my back and holds on for dear life. “Never you. You and Blake were the only good things about this place.”
“But I don’t get it,” she cries into my hair. “You were always so happy. It didn’t make sense for you to leave.”
I let out a broken sigh and pull away, staring at the girl whose life I turned upside down the moment I decided to run. “You’ll never believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” she murmurs, dropping her hands to mine. “You’re the strongest girl I know. For you to leave, whatever it is, it must have been bad.”
“It’s worse than you could possibly know,” I tell her. I give her hand a tug and pull her toward the stool at the counter. “Come on, there are some things you should probably know.”
Luce nods as she sits down beside me, still hesitant, not sure if she wants to trust me after I betrayed our friendship, but I’m sure once I’m through explaining it all, she’ll understand. She has to.
“Why don’t you start with where the hell you’ve been all this time,” she says, grabbing my half-eaten bowl of spaghetti and digging in.
Good. An easy one.
“A little town called Aston Creek,” I say, watching as her face scrunches up at the term ‘little town.’ She grew up with privilege, just like I did but unfortunately, she really enjoys her lavish lifestyle and is a little more materialistic than I’d ever hoped she’d be. That doesn’t change how much I love her. “I have an aunt. My mom’s younger sister, Shaylee. She took me and Blake in. You should meet her, she’s incredible.”
“No shit,” she gasps. “You have an actual blood relative? That’s freaking awesome. Does Blake get along with her?”
“Loves her,” I boast, unable to keep the joy out of my tone. “We’ve never had a real family like this. She has all of mom’s old things and knows stuff about my parents that I’d never been able to find out on my own. It’s incredible. She looks just like mom too and I was enrolled in the same school mom went to…”
“Wait. Enrolled? What do you mean enrolled? You were going to school there?”
“Umm…yeah.”
She pulls back ever so slightly, looking crushed. “You weren’t planning on coming back, were you?”
I shake my head and lower my voice. “I would have rather died than come back here.”
She sucks in a deep breath. “What happened to you, Sky?” she whispers. “If I’d known there was some awful reason keeping you from coming home, I wouldn’t have spent every day in Lucien’s office trying to find you.”
“Wait…what do you mean you spent every day in Lucien’s office?”
“Yeah,” she scoffs, not impressed with herself. “How stupid could I have been? He called me right after you left and asked if I could help track you down. We’ve been working together ever since, but it turns out that was all bullshit…”
“Yeah,” I tell her, reaching for her hand while wondering what his game plan was. “He knew where I was heading before I even knew.”
“I don’t understand it,” she murmurs. “Why would he act as though he didn’t know where you were? It’s like he was desperate to find you. He missed you so much. He would tell me every day that you and Blake were everything to him. Maria too. She was devastated. Did they really deserve that? They’ve done everything for you and Blake. They gave you guys a home and raised you as if you were their own.”
“Luce,” I groan. “How could you be so naive?”
She instantly takes offense, hating being called out like that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Maria and Lucien aren’t the doting parents you’ve always wanted to believe they were. They’re awful. Maria is the reason my parents are dead. Blake and I were targeted by her and they paid Anton Mathers a lot of money to get us.”
She shakes her head. “You’re kidding, right? That seems a little far fetched.”
“I’m not joking, Luce. I’d never joke where my parents are concerned. We weren’t adopted like Maria and Lucien tell everyone. We were kidnapped and raised by awful people.”
“No…I don’t believe it.”
“I met with Anton, Luce. I finally got the other half of the story. Maria is his cousin and hired him to complete the job because she hated my mom.”
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Fuck. You’re sure about this? Anton could have lied.”
I shake my head, absolutely certain. “No. it’s true. Maria and Lucien went to school in Aston Creek with my mom. That’s how they know her.”
“Shit, Sky. I’m so sorry. All this time you’ve been living with kidnappers! That’s fucking wild. I mean, I’ve been here how many times? Shit.”