Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
I take a deep breath and look Ranger in the eye, my gaze steady.
“I hear you,” I say in a steady voice. “And I understand why you’re regretful about all of this. Everyone looks back on their lives with some degree of regret.”
Ranger stares at his hands, his expression haunted.
“Yeah, but they don’t fuck up on such a huge scale,” he grinds out. “I mean, kidnapping? Sexual assault? You didn’t have to go through that.”
I let out a shuddering exhale.
“I admit, it was bad,” are my low words. “But I’ll survive. I’m not going to have night sweats or PTSD for years on end. I’m fine. My question, though, is why did you lie? Obviously, the air marshal job means nothing to you, so why did you make up all that stuff about the hijacking being a training exercise?”
The air is still for a moment as Ranger continues staring at his hands. But then he looks up and meets my eyes.
“I was wrong to lie,” he acknowledges. “I should have known better, and the lying makes it a thousand times worse. My only excuse is that this was the first time I’ve failed in a major way in my life. It’s the first time I’ve ever had something really go off the rails, and I’m embarrassed and really, totally humiliated. It’s hard, you know? You go from being a Master of the Universe to the greatest fuck-up in all of human history.”
I nod, the story beginning to make more sense now.
“Yes, but you can’t excel at everything,” I say in a slow voice. “No one can. Besides, who cares? You’re an amazing CEO but a crappy air marshal. So what?”
He sighs.
“It’s because the decisions I made as an air marshal were so questionable,” he explains in a low tone. “It’d be one thing if I failed the physical fitness portion of our training, or if I mistook NYPD for Chicago Fire or something. But in this case, all of my decisions on that flight were completely fucked up, so what does that say about me? Did I suffer from a bout of momentary insanity? Why did I lose my mind? Even more, am I fit to be a CEO if I screwed up this bad at my part-time job?”
I shake my head.
“That’s not for me to say because it’s not my expertise,” I say in a simple tone. “But yeah, you shouldn’t have lied. Screwing up, even big-time, is human nature and by trying to pull the wool over my eyes, you only made it worse.”
Ranger looks down, his expression tortured.
“I’m so sorry, Sydney.” Then he lets out a harsh bark of laughter. “I’ve been saying that a lot, haven’t I? I guess that’s what happens when you have an ego the size of Saturn, like me. My guess is that you probably don’t want to see me anymore, and I don’t blame you,” he adds. “I wouldn’t want to see myself, if I were in your shoes.”
I sigh, squeezing my eyes shut for a few moments while pinching the bridge of my nose. I’m still reeling from everything that’s happened today, and although I’m shocked, things do make more sense now. Ranger is accustomed to being a golden boy, but the fact is that no one is perfect. We all make mistakes, and now, it’s time to turn a corner because Ranger appears truly penitent about what happened. I sigh again before looking up into those sorrowful blue eyes.
“It’s fine,” I say in an even tone. “It’s not like I haven’t made mistakes in my life, so I shouldn’t be the one throwing stones. Hell, I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my past, like making that video with the two candlesticks,” I say in a low voice. “That was never supposed to get out, and yet it seems the clip’s been uploaded to every porn tube in town.”
Ranger’s silent for a moment before letting out a low chuckle.
“Well, I’m happy it did get out,” my lover growls. “I’m glad you made that video, Syd, because that’s what led me to you. And I didn’t anticipate that I would fall in love with you during your stay with me, but I did. So now, I want you to stay with me, Sydney,” he says in a fierce voice. “I know it’s a lot to ask because I’m such a fuck-up in every way possible, but the good part is that I own up to my mistakes. I swear, I’ll do better in the future, and if you’ll just give me a chance—”
But that’s when I throw my arms around his neck, surprising the big man.
“It’s fine,” I say, my own voice catching. “We’ve both made mistakes and had to pay the price. But you know what? We will learn and grow, together, and we’ll figure it out, okay? Just one thing though.”