Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
We had them pull everything out of the bedrooms, though, and I stayed on a dusty couch downstairs while a team came in and set the room up the way I wanted. All I told them was I don’t like color and I like my privacy and they went to work.
As we roll up in the driveway, her mouth drops open, and she can’t hold it in anymore.
“How in the …” she trails off, eyes slicing my way. “What the hell have I missed?”
My lip curves into a small smirk, but I don’t pull my head off the seat, exhaustion sweeping in and quick.
“You do realize we’ve been trying to find documentation of this property for longer than I’ve been alive? Seriously. We were always led to believe that this was part of the Greyson Estate.”
“It ain’t,” I tell her as I put the car in park. Reaching up, I push her hair over her shoulder. “Ain’t, but can be.” I leave the line hanging between us and climb out, my girl quick on my heels.
She practically dashes up the steps, fingers trailing over the giant stone posts carved out in the shape of a god, with snakes wrapped around his chest and neck.
“Exquisite,” she whispers, rushing for the door, but before she can pull it open, it opens on its own.
She jerks back, eyes narrowing when Saylor, her lady’s maid from the manor, stands there with a smile.
Her head snaps back and forth between the two of us.
“I wanted to make sure I had things set up for you the way you like. Saylor knows all that better than anyone.”
A softness falls over her and Saylor dips her head, her cheeks pinking.
“Toiletries and your preference in most things are where you’d expect them to be in the north wing,” Saylor tells her, eyes lifting to mine.
I give a small nod. “You can go back now.”
She pauses a moment, looking to Rocklin, and then darts forward, wrapping her arms around her before rushing off in the opposite direction. Rocklin watches her go, only looking to me when I grab her hand and lead her into the house.
“She’s going back to the manor?”
“She is.”
“The wall you knocked down?”
“It’s been rebuilt with a gate. The only way to open it is from this side, unless you have access on the other.”
While there’s a frown covering her forehead, she nods, and we head into the space. Her eyes dart and dash around every inch and I can tell she wants to explore. Hell, so do I. There’re a shit ton of spots in this place I haven’t even looked at. I didn’t even step foot inside before I put the money down because all I needed was its location—right beside her was the only prerequisite.
There will be time for exploring later, and she seems to realize that, so when I lead her up the winding staircase to the floor above, she says not a word, just follows my steps with her hand clutched in mine.
I pull my phone from my pocket, texting Hayze to let him know that we’re back but exhausted, and I’ll catch up with him before we head to the manor in the morning.
When we reach my bedroom door, she doesn’t wait for me to open it but pushes it herself, and a small smile spreads across her lips.
It’s black on black. Black floors, black walls and drapes. Black bed and comforter and everything else in between. The bathroom is the same, which is where I lead her, straight to the giant-ass stone shower, the entire ceiling pouring like rainfall across every inch of the space. I let her go, and silently, we strip down into nothing.
When she goes to attempt to remove the collar around her neck, my hand darts out, halting her movements, and she slowly lowers them to her side.
Little does she know she can’t take it off. It’s a permanent fixture on her now. Waterproof, stain proof, fade proof, and equipped with a little hidden tracker just behind the rose gold diamond in the center.
She’ll forever be in my back pocket now, a tiny dot on the app that follows her and her alone.
Rocklin gives me a soft, flirty little smile as she presses her lips to my shoulder and slips into the separate bathroom, so I chuck the rest of my clothes, looking at the burned flesh beneath my ear. I don’t want her to spend the night beating herself up, and I’ve managed to hide it with a hoodie the last few days, not to mention we’ve kept our hands to ourselves. So, I throw some Vaseline on it and a quick bandage before stepping beneath the spray.
I let the heated water roll over me and take a deep fucking breath for what feels like the first time in a long-ass time. My sister is safe and she has a home. It might not be what I envisioned for her, but I realize now that’s on me. Not her. She’s too fucking strong to live a docile life. Too good not to shine some light on a little bad. They’ll be good to her there, and she’ll fucking blossom beside them.