Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me. You can’t marry that bastard if you’re already married to me.” Saying it again gives the idea legs. It’s the only way to keep her safe from them. I have no doubt if they could get their hands on her, they’d do exactly what I will do tomorrow morning.
But if I’m being honest, keeping her from the Foxes is not my only motivation. I’ve known Ophelia a long time. Well, it’s not so much that I’ve known her, but I’ve watched her grow up. When she was a kid, I felt protective of her. I still do feel very protective, but that’s shifted as she’s grown into a woman. That sense to protect has morphed into something else, something darker, baser, and more carnal.
I want her. I’ve wanted her for a long time, and not because she was Ethan’s. My reason is much simpler. Ophelia is for me. In some sense, I’ve known it for a long time, but never like I do now. Never so clearly.
“That’s ridiculous,” she finally says.
“How so? It’s sound logic.”
“Sound logic? I’m not getting married for sound logic.”
I study her. She looks so small sitting there in that ill-fitting nightie, her hair wild, her glasses big on her face. She’s perfect. Fucking perfect. I set my hands on top of hers and crouch to a squat in front of her, so she looks down at me for a change. She’s clearly surprised by the move and tries to pull away, but I don’t let her, and she doesn’t struggle. Instead, she turns her pretty, honey-colored eyes to mine.
“I told you once I will always come for you. This is me coming for you, O.”
She bites her lip, looks down at our hands. A tear drops onto the back of mine.
“I won’t leave you at the mercy of those bastards. Never again.”
“I wish I could just go home,” she says quietly.
“Where is home? I don’t know that you’ve had a home for the last three years. And you’ve been their puppet for longer than that.”
“Am I your puppet now?” she asks.
I take this in stride, shift my gaze to our hands and turn hers so we’re palm to palm.
“You are not that. You could never be that to me.”
When I look up, I find her watching me, her eyes so sad. She’s hurt and she’s scared. Her world has fallen down around her. Hell, it’s turned to ash. Literally.
I have failed her before. I walked away from her when she needed me before, and that time, I hadn’t been dragged away. I’d chosen it. She may not be able to accept what I am proposing, but I know she must acquiesce. It’s the only way. I know for a fact the Foxes aren’t going to give her up. They need her.
Without her, they will lose everything to me because that loan I made to Sly will come due, and the only way he’ll be able to pay it back will be with Carlisle-Bent’s money. This makes them desperate—and desperate is dangerous because I do believe they are capable of violence worse than they’ve already shown.
Ophelia may not like me very much for what I will do next. She may hate me for it, but I can live with that. I’ll have to. For her.
She slips her hands free of mine and gets up. I straighten, follow her to the window. She keeps her back to me, taking it all in. She’s not getting out of here, not without me. I let her see it. Let her understand it for herself. There is no way out of here, no way out of this.
“If I agree, what happens after?” she asks, her breath fogging up the window. I look out, too. All you can see from this window of the cottage is the dim glow of the lamp Emiliano leaves burning in the chapel twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
“Once we’re married, I’ll take you to my house in Atlanta. You’ll stay there until I’m able to join you again.”
She turns to me but doesn’t speak.
“I will go see your father,” I continue. “Understand what happened. Find out the truth.”
“You’ll take me to see my father first. That’s the only way I’ll agree to this.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll be arrested as soon as they figure out who I am.”
She tilts her head, eyebrows furrowed.
“Arson, remember? Not to mention slamming my SUV into Ethan’s limo, that prick. Also, they think I kidnapped you.”
“You did.”
“I want you safe before they get to me. My lawyer is prepared and will get me out as soon as possible, but Sly Fox has some sway, although not so much in Boston as Sinistral.”
“We don’t have a marriage license. We can’t get married without one.”
“Done. I have some sway too.” I pull up the email and show it to her.