Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I barely lived. High school, car accident, the Sunrise. Adler and Roxie. The best nights of my life were in that apartment with my husband, my fake husband, and even though it was founded on a bunch of bullshit, I understand it now.
He really was trying to protect me.
“Vetch, put it the fuck down!” a voice shouts from the elevators. The gun, still cold, remains pressed against my head.
“Motherfucker,” Tony snarls.
“Drop it, Vetch! Do it now!”
“You got lucky,” he whispers. “Next time maybe.” Then the gun’s gone and Tony’s weight pulls away. Footsteps like someone’s running. More footsteps, chasing. I roll onto my side and stare at Gianni as he goes after Tony but gives up halfway down the hall. Instead, he shoves his gun back into his belt and comes over to me, kneeling down.
“You okay?” he asks. “Anything hurt?”
“I’m fine. My friend.”
He nods and goes to Roxie. She wipes her bloody face with her robe. “Thanks, big guy,” she says. “So you’re the cute bodyguard, huh?”
Gianni smirks at her. “I think you’re okay.”
“Better than okay now that you’re here.”
“Come on.” He helps Roxie up then pulls me to my feet. “Berthold’s waiting outside in the car.”
“Where are we going?” Roxie asks.
“The Sunrise,” Gianni says, giving me a look. “Back home.”
Chapter 34
Casey
The doctor looks over me and Roxie, proclaims us both lucky, and leaves with a big envelope stuffed to overflowing. Roxie’s given a suite downstairs and Gianni’s assigned to keep an eye on her, which she doesn’t seem to mind.
Adler paces the bedroom as I rub my knee.
“I’m fine,” I say for the hundredth time. “Really. I’m okay. He barely even hurt me.”
Adler stares at me. “He had a gun to your head.”
“Yes, but—”
“You’d be dead if I hadn’t sent my men to check in on you.”
“True, but—”
“You’re my wife, Casey, even if you want to act like that means nothing. To me, it means everything. Tony hurt my wife, and that will not stand.”
I spread my hands. “Adler. What are you going to do, burn the Oceanview down?”
He cocks his head. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“Stop it, please. Would you just stop?”
He releases a frustrated snarl but quits moving. His big arms cross over his chest as he stares at me. I stare back, taking him in: the tension in his face, the bags under his eyes. Clearly, he hasn’t slept since we last spoke. His dress shirt is rumpled and his pants lost their crease.
“This is my nightmare,” he says, his voice a twisted mess of emotion. “I understand you hate me, but that doesn’t change anything. For so long, I watched over you, made sure Tony never got close—and I married you because I sensed he was coming. I married you to keep you safe. And now this.”
“Adler.”
“I let you down. All my hard work, and I nearly lost you.”
“Adler, will you just listen for one second?”
His jaw clicks shut. I can tell he’s not happy about that, but at least he’s not lamenting his bad lucky anymore.
I take a deep, steadying breath.
“I believe you,” I say softly, staring into his eyes.
His lips tug down. “You… what?”
“I believe you,” I repeat. “I believe that you did all this for good reasons. I believe that you’ve been protecting me and watching over me because you wanted to do the right thing. I believe that you really do care.”
He seems surprised. Some of his tension burns away. “What changed your mind? Last time we spoke, you were looking at me like I was a monster.”
“Tony said something to me. Aside from the obvious stuff. He said that you stopped being his friend because of what happened to me.”
Adler looks away. “That’s true,” he says quietly. “We’d been fighting a lot before then, but I kept thinking we’d get past it. Then the accident happened and he showed me what kind of person he really is, and I just… I couldn’t accept it. I hated him for driving off like a goddamn coward. I despised him for acting as though you never existed, because to me, you were everything.”
I close my eyes. Deep, steadying breaths. My heart’s racing wildly. “I believe you.”
“He wasn’t always like this. When we were younger, he cared about people. He gave a shit about more than his own bank account, but that all changed as I took him deeper into my world. This life is hard, and it changes people sometimes. It corrupts them… and it happened to him.”
I lean back against the pillows, closing my eyes. I take deep, steadying breaths, and try not to think about the feeling of the cold gun barrel pressed against my head. The sensation of my own life about to end.
“This is a lot to process.”
“I know.” The bed shifts as he sits at the end. “For now, will you stay here? I can sleep in the guest room if that’d help.”