Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
When I looked down at her face as she peered up at me with as much curiosity as there was anxiousness in her blue eyes, she made my damn knees weak.
I didn’t want to tell her this bullshit I’d been told to tell her. Just like I hadn’t wanted to read over the text messages Levi Shepherd had pulled from her phone, along with all the numbers she had called from it. That had been more deception. I didn’t want any of that between us, but given who she had been married to, there was no other choice.
I cupped her chin in my hand and ran my thumb over the beauty mark on her face before beginning. A small smile tugged at her mouth, and right now, I just wanted to kiss it. Not blurt out a bunch of made-up shit that Blaise Hughes had told me to tell her. He wasn’t even my goddamn boss. I wasn’t in the Mafia. I shouldn’t have to answer to him.
But most men did when he commanded it.
“There were trackers in the soles of your shoes, the lining of your purse, and in your phone. Someone went to great lengths to know where you were at all times.” That was the only truth I could tell her.
The way her eyes widened and her entire body stiffened, I realized maybe this was for the best. If that had upset her, then the truth would be more than she could handle.
“We believe it was Kendrix. But we have no way to prove that since he’s dead. There is a chance it was the Landiagos. The day that they walked into the bar might not have been the first time that Lord got a look at you. It is very likely that he had been keeping Kendrix under surveillance, and he’d seen you. He could have put the trackers in place to help keep up with Kendrix, or it could have been that he simply planned on taking you when he was ready.”
Her gasp came with a shiver, and I reached behind her to place my hand on her back and pull her closer to me. I didn’t want to scare her, but, fuck, there wasn’t really any other way. The truth was just as scary.
“He didn’t get you, and now I have you. No one will take you. Not from me.”
She blinked, and her chest rose and fell with a deep breath. The uncertainty and worry in her expression didn’t ease up. I’d hoped that would make her feel more secure, but she seemed even more worked up than before.
“We have men working on finding out how the trackers got there. But until then, you stay here with me. Is that so bad?” I asked, grinning at her, wanting to ease her.
She licked her lips and dropped her gaze to my chest while she frowned. “I…that’s…that’s not so bad, but how long? I mean, the men here, the others, they’re not going to want me to just move in. They’ve been accommodating so far, but I was here with Pepper. She is family. I’m—”
“My family,” I interrupted her.
She’d been that long before they had been.
Her eyes shot back up to meet mine. The emotion brimming in them made it clear how little she believed me but wanted to. The damage that I’d done eighteen years ago seemed to be something I would fight against for a while. She was insecure—God knew why. The woman had nothing to be insecure about, but she had always clung to any security that was within her reach as a young girl.
As a woman, she was afraid to accept it. I’d done that. Me.
“I know you’re scared and that trusting me is hard for you. But I want you with me. I just got you back, and even if trackers hadn’t been planted in your things, I’d have found a reason for you to stay with me.”
Her eyes searched my face, as if she was seeking out any untruth to my words. Once, I’d sworn to protect her. Love her. Never let her feel unwanted or alone again. And she had believed me. Put her faith in me. She was afraid to do that completely now.
I wished I could erase those memories from my head, yet they were seared inside my soul. The darkness that now resided there was made up of those horrific clips in time. It had changed me, taking me from the boy I had been to the man I had become. But even still, it was her that I wanted above everything else.
Eighteen Years Ago
I stunk so strongly of the cheap whiskey I’d consumed for the past seventy-five hours that my pores oozed the scent. I could smell myself as I climbed the stairs of the dorm where Salem lived. I’d had to sober up to make the drive here.