Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
And her father wanted to serve her up to him on a silver platter. She was there to improve his public image. In return, Tinsley would endorse her father in his run for Governor of Alabama.
All she’d ever been to her family was a pawn. Even now, after being burned so many times, she hoped they’d forget she existed. It would never happen. She needed to internalize that fact to prevent this crushing feeling of disappointment and despair from occurring repeatedly.
The woman who could barely stand to be in the same room with a man was supposed to marry one with a horrendous history when it came to women.
She slumped forward, letting her head thump the steering wheel.
So close, she’d been so close to a different life. Or so she’d thought. In reality, she’d been a fool to let herself be seduced by dreams she’d never achieve. Her family, her blood, would always be a part of her, and she’d never escape them.
It was that thought that had driven her to harm herself after her brother’s phone call. She’d been beyond distraught. Thinking of being forced to marry someone sent her right back two months to the hell she’d survived. It triggered a flashback so vivid and real she had reached for a knife and cut her wrist before she’d known what happened.
The memory of it made her sick.
So now what?
With a heavy sigh and an equally heavy heart, Kelsie lifted her head off the steering wheel. The first order of business was to return Brooke’s car. She might come from a family without morals, but she’d rather gouge out her eyes than give Brooke the impression she was taking advantage of her generosity.
As she depressed the brake and pushed the ignition button, her gaze drifted left. The door to a small sandwich shop opened, and a sharply dressed man strolled out carrying a brown paper bag. He wore a perfectly tailored suit that fit him like a glove. Despite a light breeze, his chestnut hair had enough spray to keep it in place. Three thick gold rings glinted in the sun on the fingers holding the bag.
Unease crawled up Kelsie’s spine. Something about the jewelry tickled her memory. She continued to trail her gaze over him. The second she focused on his face, her stomach lurched, and she gagged violently. He had a moon-shaped birthmark on his cheek she’d never forget.
Her stomach heaved again. She scrambled to shove the door open and vomited on the ground next to Brooke’s car.
When the abdominal spasms passed, she was left weak and shaking. She glanced up in time to see the man slip into a pricy sports car a few spots over, completely oblivious to her.
Memories, the horrifying ones she had been trying to block out for the past few months, assaulted her. Kelsie squeezed her eyes shut and slapped a palm to her forehead. “Go away,” she whispered. Opening her eyes, she caught the man pulling out of the parking spot while chatting into a phone mounted on his dashboard. He laughed as he looked over his shoulder and reversed the car.
He was a monster. And he didn’t have a care in the world, driving his luxury vehicle and picking up his lunch like any normal human being.
Rage replaced the shock, starting low in her stomach and spiraling out through her entire body until she felt like she could vibrate right off the earth with the force of her hatred. That piece of shit did not deserve to smile and laugh, not after what he’d done to her and who knew how many others.
She slammed the door shut, yanked Brooke’s car into reverse, and pulled up behind the fucker who’d purchased her in an auction.
CHAPTER NINE
A HORN BLARED as Kelsie flew through a yellow light—okay, fine, red—one car behind the sporty Beamer. Shopping centers whizzed by as she navigated the busy streets without paying a lick of attention to where she was. All her focus narrowed on the silver car transporting the devil.
After ten minutes, he pulled into the parking lot of an automotive shop. Kelsie swung in and parked Brooke’s car opposite him. She watched through the rearview mirror as the man jogged from his car into the shop without a care in the world, as though he hadn’t ruined her life.
Would he do it again? Would he find another way to purchase a woman and violate her in the worst way? When the Handlers rescued Brenna and her, they’d taken care of anyone in the building. Some were arrested, and others had been dealt with before the cops were called in by an anonymous caller long after she and her rescuers had fled the scene.
But not this guy. He must have had alternate plans that night. He was probably home with his oblivious wife and children, enjoying a nice dinner and a nightcap.