Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“You say I don’t know the real you, and I don’t understand your family. What does that mean?”
I stared at him, trying to process what he’d said. I’d expected him to kick me out, not ask a personal question. Did he really want an answer?
“I told you my father doesn’t give a fuck about me, and that I had no idea why he’d send me here for protection. What I didn’t say was that I thought he wanted me out of the way so he could openly show favoritism to my cousin. Franco wants me out of the picture, and I assumed he’d won that round. I was wrong. According to my aunt, my father is onto Franco’s real mission—to take over the family. I’m here while Dad figures out just how much of a traitor my cousin and his friends are—unless that’s all a lie too and Dad is double-crossing me and my aunt.”
Rhys sat up, his expression turning serious. “Damn. Your life really is fucked up. What are you doing to figure out the truth?”
“How do you know I’m doing anything?”
Rhys glared at me. “Are you saying you’re not?”
“I’ve got some contacts working on it.”
“Contacts powerful enough to spy on your father and your cousin without getting caught?”
I smiled. “I have some very important friends.”
I heard a door opening down the hall and tensed. We’d forgotten all about being quiet. I didn’t care if Rhys’s brothers knew I was fucking him, but I didn’t want them hearing anything about my family.
I sat back and waited for whoever it was—presumably Rogue—to pass by.
“Rogue always sleeps like the dead,” Rhys whispered. “Why the hell did he pick tonight to be restless?”
“Is it so bad if he heard us? He said himself you needed to get laid.”
“He didn’t mean with you.”
“Will he tell Grant?”
Rhys confused me by smiling. “Are you afraid of my brother?”
“No. Neither of them.”
“If he thinks you’ve hurt me, Rogue is really the one you should be afraid of. He seems sweet now, but remember, he used to go up against angry bulls all the time. He’s not afraid of anything, and he’s willing to die for me.”
“I wouldn’t kill your brother.”
“Really? Not even to defend yourself?”
“I would knock him out, but I wouldn’t kill him.” I could tell Rhys didn’t believe me.
“Go back to your room while he’s downstairs.”
He’d gotten me to spill my family’s secrets, and now he was dismissing me. I yanked on my clothes, furious with him. It wasn’t that I needed this thing between us to be more than just sex, but this was the first time I actually felt used.
Why did that even matter? Hadn’t I used him too? Yes, but it was different when it was about sex. Now I felt like he’d seen more of me than he should without revealing a damn thing about himself.
I walked out the door and closed it quietly behind me.
20
RHYS
I’d never had as much trouble focusing on my work in the barn as I did the next morning, not even the day before when I’d been hungover and my body ached from the pounding TJ had given me.
Grant needed to know what was going on with TJ’s family. TJ hadn’t specifically asked me not to say anything to my brothers, but I had no doubt he would resent me sharing anything he’d said. He’d spoken to me like he was making a confession. I’d never expected him to trust me like that, but no matter who he was or how much I resented his presence at the ranch, I never betrayed confidences.
When I’d gotten all the horses fed, Rogue came wandering in, looking like he’d slept even less than I had.
“What’s up with you?”
He glared at me with a raised brow. “I could ask you the same thing. I didn’t sleep well. Someone—and I know it wasn’t Grant—was having noisy-as-hell sex with someone else—who was not Jacob.”
“Fuck.”
“It sure sounded like it was a good one.”
I pressed my hand to my eyes. I did not want to talk about this, and yet, I needed to. I’d told TJ we weren’t going to tell anyone, but telling Rogue wasn’t the same as telling someone else. We’d never kept secrets from each other—except the one huge secret I had.
Maybe he has one too?
No, he’s so damn open with everyone.
“What are you doing?”
I pushed my hair back from my face. “I wish to God I knew.”
“You like him.”
“I do not.”
“Yeah, you do, and you hate that, but it’s there.”
“Don’t do that.” I turned toward the tack room, wishing he wouldn’t follow me.
“Do what?” Of course, he walked in right behind me.
“Act like you know me better than I know myself.”
“Don’t I, though? And don’t you know me that well too?”
“Maybe.” The years we’d spent apart had changed us both. Did we still know each other like we used to?