Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“I do mean it. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. But I also know that Thorsen is damaged. And sometimes, I don’t think he’ll ever see his way out of that despair.”
Calder stares down at his folded hands. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but it’s public knowledge anyway. He had a girlfriend once, six years ago. She was his first.”
Jealousy sprouts up inside me, and I find myself leaning forward, desperate to hear every word about this woman. “What happened?”
“She was playing him,” he answers. “It was the first woman he trusted after… well, after some really horrible things happened. I didn’t think he’d ever trust anybody. But he met Anja, and he thought she was someone who might be different.”
“And then she betrayed him?” I whisper.
“She was feeding information to the media and raking in paychecks.” The pain in his voice is visceral, and I can tell it wasn’t just Thorsen who got hurt by this situation. Calder cares so deeply about his brother that he feels his hurt too.
“That’s awful.” I blink back tears. “I had no idea.”
“It wrecked him,” Calder says. “He wouldn’t want you to know that, but I think it’s important you do. When he tries to push you away, it’s because he’s scared. But the fact that he brought you here means something. He sees something in you, and I want you to swear to me you’ll never hurt him like that, Ella.”
“I won’t,” I swear, abandoning the defensiveness I felt just a few moments before. “I know it probably sounds crazy, but… I care about him.”
“It isn’t crazy.” He shrugs. “Thorsen is easy to love. He just hates himself.”
I’m tempted to ask him about the bottle of poison, but I don’t want to worry him unnecessarily. Not yet, at least.
“Our mother is dying,” Calder tells me quietly. “He probably hasn’t mentioned that either.”
“No.” My throat pinches. “He hasn’t.”
“Brain cancer,” he says. “It’s a tumor. The doctors say it won’t be long until she’s gone.”
“I’m so sorry.” The words heave from my lungs.
“Thorsen is close to her, and I’m worried about him. He’s going to need you, Ella. You can help him through it. I believe that’s why he brought you here. He knows what’s coming, and he needs someone to get him through it.”
“Of course, I will.” I nod. “I’ll be there for him, no matter what.”
“He’s going to push you away. He’ll push all of us away. But maybe you can get through to him.”
“I won’t let him do that,” I insist. “I won’t let that happen.”
It’s an admirable notion, but from the anguish on Calder’s face, I can tell it’s not going to be that easy. He’s been down this road with Thorsen before. Something horrible happened in his past, and he’s still fighting those demons every day.
“Has he ever… tried to hurt himself?”
Calder snaps his attention back to me, and I know before he even says anything that I’m right. “Why would you ask me that?”
“I just—”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Thorsen’s voice catches us both off guard, and we turn toward him with matching expressions of guilt. I’m horrified when I see the same sense of betrayal and hurt burning in his eyes.
“Thor.” Calder pushes his chair back and stands up. “I need to speak with you.”
“Why are you here?” His eyes dart between us. “Why are you with Ella?”
“He was looking for you,” I tell him. “That’s all.”
But I know that isn’t all. He looks like he’s about to blow a gasket, and he’s already assuming the worst even though it isn’t logical.
“Get out.” Thorsen glares at his brother.
Calder sighs, lingering for a minute before he decides that it’s best not to provoke him. He offers me an apologetic glance and then disappears, leaving me alone with the thundering god. I hold my breath, waiting for whatever comes next, but as it turns out, he only has one thing to say.
“Get down on your knees.”
24
Thorsen
Ella crawls toward me, her fingers gripping the cold tile floor as her eyes shine with regret. She doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. Not yet.
When her knees bump against my shoes, she reaches up with trembling hands and unzips my trousers without being asked. Much to my irritation, it only takes her fingers brushing over the bulge in my briefs to make me painfully hard for her.
“Nothing happened, Thor,” she says with such familiarity, it only adds to my ire. “We were just talking.”
“Please me.” I tangle my fingers in her hair and force her head back. “That’s what you’re here for. Or have you forgotten?”
She tries to nod, but my grip is too tight, and I can’t relent. Because in my mind, I’m still questioning it. Ella tries to put me at ease by dragging out my cock and sucking it into her mouth. My eyes fall shut, and I give into her for just a second. But it isn’t tempering my frustrations.