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 really are fucking filthy,” I said.
“With you I am.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t tell me you were pure and sweet until you begged me to fuck you.”
“I did not beg you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Until you asked me.”
He scowled. “I wasn’t sweet. I just didn’t…” Color rose in his cheeks.
“You didn’t beg men to come on you?”
“No. Never.”
“And you didn’t get your ass eaten while you begged for more?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Then aren’t you glad you met me?”
We both froze as we held each other’s gazes.
Finally Rhys nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad. This is crazy, but…”
“I know. I’m glad too.”
“So what happens now?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure if he meant between us or if he was referring to Franco and how I was going to find my half brother, make Franco regret being born, and negotiate terms with my father that I could live with. The same answer served for both. “I don’t fucking know.”
Rhys patted the mattress beside him, encouraging me to lie down, then snuggling against my side. “Tell me about Franco. Where did all this start?”
“He’s jealous of my position, and he talks shit about me to my father every chance he gets. He encourages my father to give me assignments Franco thinks will get me killed.”
“But they never do because you’re too damn good.”
I grinned. “That’s right. A few months ago, at Franco’s request, my father ordered me to take out a man Franco had claimed double-crossed us. The man was scum whether or not that was true, so I was happy to follow orders, but when I tracked the man down, Franco was meeting with him. Now I believe Franco was paying the man to kill me before I got to him.”
Rhys was watching me intently. “What did you do?”
“I took the shot and brought the fucker down. Franco stood right there and stared at me. I could easily have killed him too, but I didn’t have proof of his ambitions, only suspicions.”
“And you needed proof before killing your cousin?”
“I didn’t give a fuck that he was my cousin. The only thing stopping me was what my father would say and if he’d believe me. I let the son of a bitch live, and now Arturo could… I want Franco to die, but now I want it to be slow. I want to torture him until he begs me to kill him. I want him crying from the pain. I guess you think that makes me a monster.”
26
RHYS
I sat up enough to look down at TJ. “No. I don’t think you’re a monster. Franco has hurt someone you care for, an innocent boy. I understand that completely. That’s exactly why, when the opportunity came, I killed my father.”
TJ’s mouth fell open. My heart hammered as he stared at me, disbelief on his face. Why the hell had I told him? I hadn’t even agonized over it. I’d known it was time to speak, time to let him know I wasn’t any better than him, no matter how much I’d wanted that to be true when we first met.
“Did you really just say… I couldn’t have heard you right.”
“You did.”
“I’m not hallucinating or hearing things or whatever? I’m not crazy? You said—”
“I killed my father.”
“But I thought the Carlottis took him out.”
“That’s the story I spread, and they might have if I’d waited long enough, but the truth is, it was me.”
His eyes widened even more. “Oh God, the other day, the FBI agent. I’ve seen a picture of your father, and he looks so much like him. Is that why you were upset seeing his body?”
I nodded. “I killed my father exactly the same way you took that man down, and when I saw him up close with that bullet hole in his forehead, I…”
Even then the world started to spin around me, and my stomach churned.
“Don’t think about it. I killed that man, not you, and you’ve done nothing wrong. Your father hurt you and your brothers. You were just defending your family.”
“Same as you will be when you kill Franco.”
He smiled. “Damn right.”
Silence stretched for a few moments, and the uneasy feeling in my stomach grew worse. “So… Now you know my biggest secret. I’ve never told anyone, and…”
“You mean Rogue and Grant don’t know?”
I shook my head.
“Why did you tell me?”
“You needed to know. And I… I’m tired of being the only one holding this secret. I guess I needed to tell someone who would understand.”
“Your brothers would understand.”
“Dad was going to kill Rogue because he hadn’t taken care of ranch chores Dad had ordered him to do. Dad didn’t do them because he was off drinking with his mafia buddies. Rogue was at school, serving detention. He couldn’t have been there, but even if he’d just slacked off, it wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t his job. It was Dad’s. I wasn’t going to let him hurt Rogue ever again. I would do anything to save my brother.”