Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“I went to find you, but the friend you were supposed to be with told me you’d gone to breakfast with Leo. This was when I snapped. It gets a little foggy for me. But I waited for you to return to the dorms. He drove up, opened your car door, then pressed you up against the car and kissed you. I went to buy the supplies I needed and then headed to his frat house.”
“You lit it on fire because I had kissed this Leo guy?” I asked.
He nodded. “I convinced myself you’d been wanting to date him. That you’d been seeing him behind my back. That you’d used the Misty thing as an excuse. No one was killed, but I ended up with a trial date, although there was no firm proof that it was me who had done it.
“While I sat behind bars, you packed your bags and moved to Boston. Wrote me a letter, telling me you couldn’t do this anymore. That we were bad for each other. That you didn’t love me and you wanted a new life. Your parents were buying a home there, and you’d decided to go ahead and move there now. Get enrolled in college. A lot of other shit that destroyed me. Garrett was able to get me out of a trial and prison time if I went into the Marines for four years. I took the deal.
“Came back a year and a half ago once I finished serving my time. I’d only checked on you once. About six months after I joined the military, I had Blaise run a check on you. He sent it to me. You were in college, dating a premed student, in a sorority, spending time at a country club, attending fancy events for the Boston elite. There were pictures of you with Isaac Jeffrey, son of some political shit, in the paper more than once. I threw the papers away and never checked again.” He stopped.
“And then I walked into your house five years later, like I hadn’t done anything wrong,” I whispered. “I’m surprised you didn’t choke me to death. I left when you were in jail, and I left you a letter? That’s cruel. It … it’s horrible. Why would I—”
Gage’s mouth was on mine, silencing me as he pressed me back until I was under him. His hand moved under my T-shirt dress and pulled at my panties. “It was cruel. It fucked me up. But you came back,” he said, pressing another kiss to my mouth. “You fucking came back.”
His hand slipped down between my legs, and he shoved two fingers inside me. “I knew when I lit the house on fire that I’d pay for it,” he said against my lips. “I just hadn’t known that payment would be losing you.”
I let out a cry as he began to fuck me with his fingers. “Gage.”
“Yeah, baby?” he asked, pressing kisses down my neck.
“If I had loved you, I’d have never left.”
He stilled and looked down at me.
“Because I love you now and I would never—”
His mouth covered mine again as he ripped my panties off and spread my legs.
Thirty-Seven
Shiloh
The next few days would have been perfect if I hadn’t had another awkward run-in with Wilder and had to rush Ace to the vet because he had gotten into Uncle Neil’s chocolate stash. Also, Gage was going to be out of town the next two nights. He and Huck had to accompany Blaise to a ranch in Tennessee to see a horse. Uncle Neil was taking me home after work, and Levi was picking me up at seven from my apartment to take me to stay with Trinity at the house.
Knowing our past and understanding why Gage had treated me the way he had made it easier for me to accept. This life. The family. The secrets, crime, and whatever else they were involved in. It was like I’d told Gage—I loved him, and because I loved him, I wasn’t leaving.
Uncle Neil had a late patient come in with a broken arm. I finished closing up things, then got the trash together to take outside to the dumpster. The office would be closed for the next three days, so we always made sure it was clean and food was all disposed of properly. I had to text Levi and tell him I needed a little extra time to pack since I would be getting home later now.
The sunset was getting later the closer we got to spring. It was nice to go outside at five and it not be dark anymore. Smiling at the last bit of sunshine, I walked the bags out to the trash. My thoughts went to Gage and how he’d woken me up with sex this morning. He’d been demanding, and I loved it when he was like that. But then I loved it when he was sweet and when he was dirty.