Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Maybes are too cruel.
The fact that those things didn’t happen and never will hurts worse than physical pain.
“You’re not her,” Aiden whispers.
“I know. I never wanted to be.”
“No. You’re not her.” There’s no accusation in his voice. It’s more like…sadness? “You won’t fall like she did.”
“What makes you think that?”
He hesitates. It’s the first time I’ve witnessed Aiden hesitating. “Jonathan never looked at her the way he looks at you.”
My breath shortens at his words, but before I can say anything, Elsa saunters in carrying a mug of hot chocolate and places it between my stiff fingers. The warmth dissipates some of the cold, but it doesn’t fight off the tremors.
I don’t miss how Aiden’s eyes follow Elsa’s every movement as if she’s the magnet to his steel. It’s like he’s physically unable to keep his attention off her.
“You have to change your clothes so you don’t catch a cold,” she tells me. “We’re different sizes, but I’ll see what I can find.”
“No, I better go.” I start to stand, but she gently sits me back down.
“Nonsense. You can’t drive back this late and in the midst of this rain. Stay the night.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Jonathan won’t mind if you spend a night out.” Elsa peeks at her husband and asks in an unsure tone. “Right?”
“He would.” Aiden lifts a shoulder. “But stay anyway.”
Both Elsa and I freeze, unsure if we heard him correctly. Did Aiden just tell me to stay over?
Elsa is the first to recover and grins at him wide, her nose scrunching. “Totally. Let me get you some dry clothes.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’m wearing one of Elsa’s dresses. She’s one or two sizes smaller and I’m taller than her, so the cotton material tightens around my breasts, stomach, and hips, and it doesn’t even reach my knees.
Still better than wet clothes. I also change my bandages to dry ones. Jonathan’s voice about not reopening my wounds echoes in my ears the whole time.
Then he looked at me that way. Like he thought I was crazy. Like he was disappointed in me.
I can’t chase that look out of my head, no matter how much I try. I also can’t stop thinking about his platonic touch this morning.
It could be that I’m being petty, but I opt not to tell him where I am. He’s not my keeper. He doesn’t need to know where I’m spending my night.
I join Elsa in the kitchen, and to my surprise, she’s only Aiden’s sous-chef. His movements are organised and precise, and he knows his way around everything.
“Do you always cook?” I try, expecting him to ignore me.
He nods but barely pays me any attention. Well, that’s a start, I guess.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” Elsa leans in to whisper. “I don’t cook, like at all. Aiden doesn’t let me.”
“Well, I’m not so good at cooking myself,” I murmur back. “No one should allow me near a kitchen.”
We both laugh, and Aiden throws a glance that suggests he’s not happy to be left out of our conversation.
We try to help him out, but he shoos us away, so we make the table, which is situated near the lounge area.
Elsa and I sit there, sipping wine and staring out the large window that the dining table overlooks. The droplets of rain running down it form long lines and the streetlights give the view a cosy feel.
It is a peaceful night, and I should enjoy it. I could if my heart would stop sinking like an abandoned ship.
“I’m sorry if I interrupted your plans,” I tell Elsa.
She slides the glass of wine on the table. “More like Aiden’s plans, but they’re everyday plans, so he can wait.”
“Are you sure he won’t hate me more?”
“He doesn’t hate you.” She bites her lower lip. “I mean, you’re the woman who tamed Jonathan King. Anyone would respect you for that — Aiden included.”
“I didn’t tame him.” Far from it. If anything, whatever we had has been destroyed since my hallucinations.
“Have you seen the way he’s possessive of your time and attention?”
“That’s because he’s a control freak.”
“Well, that he is, but it’s more. I can tell.”
“You can tell, how?”
“It’s in the little things, you know?”
“The little things?”
She takes a sip of her wine and leans her head on her palm. “Okay, so here’s one. When we sit for family dinners, Jonathan doesn’t touch his food until he makes sure you’re not only settled, but you’ve also started eating.”
“He just likes everyone seated.”
“Jonathan?” She laughs, the sound throaty. “He couldn’t care less about us. He only started that habit when you joined our dinners.”
“Oh.”
“There’s also the way he watches you so you’ll eat or how he snaps at Aiden or Levi whenever they address you. It’s like he doesn’t want your attention divided from him.”
“He snaps at everyone.”
“Not usually. Jonathan is the type who issues orders in the calmest, most frightening way. And he doesn’t actually snap at Aiden and Levi — at least, not when Astrid and I are there.” She grins. “You brought colours to his previously bleak world. I can feel it.”