Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
I just wish it didn’t feel like he always wants to get me out of the way. That’s what’s on my mind as I close my eyes, and sleep doesn’t take long to catch up with me.
It can’t be more than a few moments before the bed shifts, and my eyes fly open in surprise. It’s fully dark now, so dark I can only make out Lucas’s outline as he climbs into bed with me. “There you are,” I whisper in relief.
“Here I am.” He strokes my cheek before pressing a tender kiss against my forehead. “Go back to sleep.”
“I didn’t think you would ever come up.”
He pulls me into his arms, and I let my head drop onto his chest. “I had some things to take care of, but everything is going to be fine now.”
I can believe that when it’s like this, when we’re together in the dark, and I’m enclosed in the safety of his arms, with the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath my ear. I can believe everything will be fine in the end. A sense of deep peace settles over me, and I welcome it, smiling.
Even if there’s still the question in the back of my mind of what comes next. We aren’t going to stay here forever, I’m sure of that. I know he has money, even if I don’t know how much, but he was prepared to set me up in an apartment and everything, right?
Sure, when he had a job. Now that he’s been fired, what does that mean? Will he have to find something else? What would a man like him even do?
I want to ask all of it if only for my own peace of mind. But I’m too tired and too happy to be held like this. Why ruin it? It can all wait until morning.
Besides, he said everything was going to be okay now.
I’m alone again.
I sit up, looking toward the bathroom. The door’s open, and the light is off. Not the first time I’ve woken up wondering where Lucas ran off to. This time, I’m not coming out of a nightmare, and I won’t be wandering the house in search of him. It feels like so much time has passed since then, but it’s only been weeks. Still, I feel older as I get out of bed and go to the bathroom to wash up, then get dressed in last night’s clothes.
With all the excitement yesterday, I didn’t really eat anything, so it’s no surprise my stomach is roaring in displeasure by the time I creep out of the bedroom and head downstairs. It’s still awkward walking around in a house that doesn’t belong to me, one where it’s obvious my presence isn’t exactly welcome. I remind myself I’m with Lucas, and it was his choice to bring me. That means I belong, right?
That way of thinking lasts approximately as long as it takes me to reach the kitchen, where Lucas and Nic are seated at the table by the window. They’re nursing cups of coffee, and neither of them looks thrilled to look up and find me staring at them.
This doesn’t bode well. Right away, I try to figure out what I’ve done wrong, and why they’re looking at me that way. All I did was sleep. I haven’t even been here long enough to cause trouble.
Finally, it’s Nic who speaks. “We need to talk with you.”
“Okay…” I shoot a desperate glance Lucas’s way, but he’s unreadable.
“You must be hungry. Please come and help yourself.” There’s a plate of bagels and muffins on the table, cream cheese and butter, and other things I barely take a look at.
I’m much more interested in the men sitting there and whatever it is they are going to tell me, even though I’m starved. I force myself to grab a bagel while Nic pours me a cup of coffee. I murmur my thanks, then busy myself spreading cream cheese on both halves. It’s easier than looking at Lucas, whose pained expression is enough to tear my heart out.
“We have good news for you.” Nic offers a tight smile before looking at his brother like this was his cue to jump in. Only Lucas hasn’t said a word. He’s too busy staring into his coffee cup. How good can the news be when he looks so damn miserable?
“I could use some good news,” I offer with a smile I don’t feel.
Lucas clears his throat, and I sit up a little straighter now that I know he’s the one delivering this news. “Over the past few months, Nic and Xander have taken it upon themselves to divvy up the Valentine businesses.”
Oh. This is the last thing I expected to hear about. “That makes sense. There’s nobody to run them otherwise.”
“And anything they didn’t want, they sold off.”