Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Vienna crossed back over to the little table and sat down. Her legs were shaky. She was exhausted, but not sleepy tired.
“Some would say he was being very honest with her,” Harlow pointed out. “Better that than lying.”
“True,” Zahra agreed. “But did he lead her on in the first place? Or did he commit the sin of omission and let her believe they were going to have a future when he knew they weren’t?”
Vienna frowned. “Zale over and over has insisted he wants a future with me. He told me he’d marry me right now. He said he’d be happy if I was pregnant with his child. He also was up front that he had a commitment for another year but after that he would get out. Each time I said I was worried he would find life boring, he pointed out all the things one can do in the Sierras and said he would have no problems living there with me and starting a family.”
There was a long silence. Vienna heard her heart thudding. She didn’t want to hope. She didn’t want to be that woman who kept going back and getting kicked in the teeth. No matter how much she thought that, she had to admit there was a small part of her that couldn’t help hoping Zale hadn’t lied to her about wanting to share his life with her. Maybe he hadn’t told her the truth about why he was in Vegas, but surely, he wouldn’t sleep with her to keep her close to him for his job. That just didn’t make sense.
They can’t be trusted. They lie to you. They’ll say anything they think you want to hear in order to get their way.
She detested Avril’s voice creeping into her head every time. She had enough demons.
“Vienna,” Harlow began slowly. “That doesn’t sound like a man lying to get you in bed. He wouldn’t have to go that far.”
Stella shook her head. “Sam would kill him for saying something like that to you and then walking away. Zale has to know that. These men play for keeps.”
“I agree with Stella,” Raine said. “Sam’s so quiet, but underneath, he’s a volcano. You’re family to him. If someone messes with his family, he’d go after them. Leading you on qualifies as messing with you. Zale knows Sam and he would never violate a code they have.”
Zahra frowned. “I don’t know Zale at all, but I do know Sam. He lives his entire life by a code of honor. If Zale is anything like him, if he told you he wanted to marry you and have children with you, Vienna, I can’t imagine that’s a lie. Why go that far?”
That was a good question. It made no sense at all. Zale would have known he could have seduced her back into his bed. She was extremely susceptible to him, and she wanted to be with him in spite of telling him to leave her alone if he didn’t mean the things he said. She had to decide whether or not she believed he was an honorable man.
Her gaze dropped to Shabina. Shabina hadn’t really weighed in with an opinion once they’d all started talking about what Zale had said to her. She sat very still, her face pale, her large eyes very blue, her dark lashes veiling her expression.
“Shabina, what do you think?”
Shabina shrugged without looking up. “I’m not someone you can ask. I don’t know the first thing about men. I stay away from them and if I get too close, I nearly always misread every single thing I think they mean.”
“You’re upset over something Rainier said to you.” Vienna made it a statement.
“I’m always upset over anything Rainier says to me. Anytime he comes around. He sometimes shows up in the middle of the night to check on things. To see to my security, he says. He treats me like I’m still a child. No matter how hard I try to overcome the things that happened to me, he throws me right back to that girl that can’t breathe or think. I panic when I’m around him. It’s pathetic. He has a way of being so superior, almost amused and above it all, while I’m struggling just to maintain my equilibrium.”
Raine, the closest to her, put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I doubt Rainier tries to make you feel that way, Shabina. He was there when those terrible things happened to you. He saw you at your worst. That’s bound to bring the memories too close. He can’t help that.”
Shabina nodded. “I tell myself that all time. I think he tells himself that as well. He goes really blank when he’s around me. Impossible to read, you know, but sometimes I think I hurt him. He thinks I can’t stand for him to be around me. I don’t blame him for what happened to me, and I’m not afraid of him because I saw him kill all those men. If I could have done it myself, I would have.” She bowed her head at the confession.