Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
I heard a door shut behind me and flinched as I looked over my shoulder at Roland. He was making his way to us with a smile and three beers in his hands, clearly with good news in tow.
“Want to keep your marriage intact and Roland out of trouble?” Dylan asked. I focused on him again and he was forcing a smile, watching his cousin make his way toward us. “Then keep your fucking mouth shut. I’ll stop taking his money eventually—once my brother and sisters are well taken care of too and I feel like it’s enough. Until then, mind yours, and I’ll mind mine.”
Roland’s footsteps came closer and Dylan stood up, accepting one of the beers he offered.
Roland sat beside me and handed one to me too, then he looked between us as Dylan sat, and asked, “Everything all right?”
I sipped my beer, looking from my husband to Dylan, who had one arm on the arm of the couch, a smirk on his lips. “Yeah, man. I’m all good. You good, Samira?”
I stared at him, wanting so badly to break the bottle in my hands and stab him right in the chest. He couldn’t get away with this. Who did he think he was? He was such a smug bastard, so malicious, so conniving. I felt nothing but pure rage in that moment, thinking about all I’d gone through just to discover the truth. The real truth. And it turned out he was behind it all along.
But then I looked at Roland, who was smiling, happy as hell for the first time in a long time despite having a black eye and bruises, and all of that rage morphed into fear. And not fear for me. Fear for my husband.
He’d escaped the past—escaped Melanie and all the problems she’d dragged into his life. He was happy again, getting more endorsements and interviews, reclaiming his innocence and reputation. I couldn’t put him through that all over again. Not when so much was going for him. Not over money. Not right now. And I couldn’t have someone else he thought he could trust, destroy his life all over again. Someone had to protect him.
With that in mind, I put my eyes on Dylan’s, and with my chin tipped and a subtle smile on my lips, I said, “Yeah. We’re good.”