Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“I can see right through you, Heath.”
“What the fuck do you mean?”
“I have to say, I thought we were having problems before... but this is a new level of fucking insanity, brother.”
“What the fuck are you on about?”
“You. Getting as addicted to that toy as you are to the drugs.”
“She’s not a toy, I told you already.”
“She is,” he yells. “She’s another man’s toy, Heath, and you need to accept that. He knows we’re out there now, Heath. It’s only a matter of time before Xavier realizes who we are. Our connection. You think he’ll stop at anything to take her back, Heath? He fucking won’t. He’ll kill us all to get her back.”
“You think I can’t take my uncle? I’ll fucking destroy him.”
“I’ll probably die watching you try,” he sighs in response. “Go train your toy, Heath. The cartel’s better off without you ruining shit.”
“Fuck you.”
I want to attack him, but deep inside, a small part of me knows just how right he is about everything. But I can’t face that truth right now. Not yet.
He leaves the room and lower my trembling hands to the drawer in my desk. I take out some white powder, inhaling some, licking the rest.
The hit comes fast, making me forget about all this shit. All that’s left is her face.
Freckles, pale skin.
Cornflower blue eyes.
Hair golden like the sun.
Sunshine.
Rain.
Rain or shine, she is fucking mine.
Chapter 15
RAIN
Twenty years ago
Nana is my entire world.
I can’t imagine a life without my grandmother. Since I was a little girl, she’s been taking care of me, making sure I have a happy life. I barely remember my parents - they died when I was a little girl, and since then I’ve been on the run with Nana.
I remember her explaining to me I wasn’t like other children.
That I needed to be protected, hidden away. That just by living my life, I risked having it taken away from me.
At first, it was hard to accept. I rebelled against it, eager to live a normal life like everyone else. I remember the first time I learned just how wrong I was so well.
Nana and I had just moved to a small seaside village. I spent hours upon hours on the beach, watching fishermen pull up their nets and unload their precious cargo. I fed stray cats that hung out by the pier and picked exotic looking flowers that grew all around us.
One day, I was sitting in the sand, toying with a kitten, when I felt a cold sensation of somebody watching me.
I raised my eyes, meeting the gaze of a man clad in dark clothing despite the oppressive heat of the afternoon.
“Hello,” I said thoughtfully.
“Hello,” he replied with a smirk. “Is that your kitten?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I just feed him.”
“So can I take him, then?”
“Why?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. The man looked different from the weather-beaten fishermen I was used to speaking with. His hair was slicked back and his clothes were all black.
“I want to take care of him,” the man said. “You can come with me. To make sure he’s safe.”
I picked up the kitten in my arms, contemplating my decision.
Nana surely wouldn’t like me talking to a stranger, but I was worried about the kitten and I wanted to make sure he went to a suitable home.
“Okay,” I mumbled. “You can take him, but I want to make sure he’s going to be okay. Can I come see where you’ll take him.”
“Of course.”
The man flashed me his perfect smile, pointing to a waiting car.
“Come with me.”
I followed him to the car and was already climbing in when one fisherman came after us.
“Rain, where is your Nana?” he asked me, glaring at the man with me.
“She went to the market,” I said.
“She wouldn’t like you leaving with this man.”
“And how is that any of your fucking business?” the stranger snarled, sending fear through my body.
The kitten struggled in my arms, and when he desperately scratched me to get away, I let go, watching helplessly as he ran into the shrubbery.
“Come on.”
The man tugged on my arm to get me to leave with him.
“But the kitten,” I cried out as he tried to force me into his car. “He ran off!”
Ignoring me, the man kept pushing me into the car when the fisherman attacked him. I screamed as they fought, but then the driver of the car exited and a single gunshot rang through the air of the island.
We all stood still for a second, and then my feet acted of their own accord as I took off running. I didn’t even know where I was going. All I could hear was somebody screaming my name - the man whom I’d never introduced myself to.
In my heart, I knew something was wrong. This man had an ulterior motive, and he was determined to catch me. I’d never ran so fast.