Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
“I do worry about you, Dad,” I murmur. “These customers sound like they need to be told no.”
He shakes his head. “Impossible.”
“Then why did you take the job?” I ask, and I grab his hand. “We don’t need their money. We can do without. I can get a job too, and we can—”
“Oh, my pretty little jewel,” he interrupts, a gentle smile on his face. “So concerned about other’s well-being.” He grabs a rose off one of the bushes he created and plucks it, then tucks it into my hair. “I raised you right.”
I smile and blush, feeling the prickles against my ear. “Yes, you did, Dad.”
Tears well up in my eyes. I can’t help it. He sacrifices so much to keep this family fed.
He catches one of the tears with his thumb. “Don’t cry, my jewel. Your face is far too pretty for those tears to stain it.”
I laugh it off. “I just worry too much.”
“I know you do.” He looks down at me from underneath his eyelashes. “But I need you to go to college. Okay? And you need to make sure you study hard, and to do that, you need your sleep.” He grabs my shoulders and turns me around so I face the door again. “So go back to bed, little jewel, and we’ll see each other again at breakfast in the morning.”
He pushes me forward, so I keep walking, but I can’t help but glance over my shoulder. “Promise me you’ll go to bed too, Dad. I know you want to take care of us, but you have to take care of yourself too.”
He picks up the bouquet he was working on again. “I promise I will take care of … everyone.”
Even now, he can never choose himself.
“Sleep tight, little jewel.”
Present
His pretty little jewel.
Tainted.
But not destroyed.
Dad wouldn’t want me to give up that easily.
I grab some of my mom’s foundation and smear it on my face to conceal the splotches and tap on some of her pink blush. Then I grab her mascara and put some on.
There. Much better.
I turn toward the tub, which is a complete mess, and grasp the shower curtain and put it all into the big bin in the corner. No way we’re going to use that ever again.
I open the door and blink a couple of times from the brightness of the light.
I hadn’t even realized I spent so much time in the darkness with him.
I take in a deep breath and go downstairs. Gloom overwhelms me at the thought of having to see him sitting there with a grin on his face, knowing full well what he just did.
But when I finally get to the dining room, he’s gone.
“Crystal? What’s going on?” my mom asks. “Is everything okay?”
“Um … yeah,” I mutter, trying to put up a fake smile. “I just showed him around and put on some makeup while I was upstairs too.”
“O-kay.” My mom frowns.
God, I hope she believes my lie.
“You sure took a lot of time showing him around upstairs,” she says.
I blush and avert my eyes. “Yeah … Anyway, where’s Caleb?”
“He left,” she responds.
“I don’t know what’s up with him. I apologize for the rudeness,” his dad says, clearing his throat.
“It’s fine,” my mom replies with a polite smile. “It happens. I know how difficult it can be to raise kids on your own.”
“Right, thank you,” he responds with a smile.
“Um, Mom, you’re gonna have to replace the shower curtain,” I mutter.
Her brows furrow. “What? Why?”
“I accidentally leaned into it, and it broke off. Sorry.” I rub my lips together. “I put it in the bin. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“It’s okay. Thank you for telling me. Do you know why Caleb left?”
“No.” I lie, shrugging. “Did he say something?”
“No, he just ran off,” she replies.
“He does that sometimes,” his dad adds. “Things have been difficult on him ever since his mom …” His dad swallows away the lump in his throat. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll talk to him later. Promise.”
My mom reaches for his hands. “Thank you. I’d love that. I really want this to work.”
So quickly falling in love already. I’m impressed.
“Me too,” his dad says. “And for what it’s worth, I think you cooked a lovely dinner.”
They smile at each other, and my mom blushes. “Thank you.” Then she looks at me. “Let’s eat, Crystal.”
I nod and sit back down again like everything’s normal.
She’ll never know what I did for her and never find out what I plan to do. Because I’ll take my secrets with me to the grave.
Ares
The next day
I’m glad we finally managed to get rid of those damn bodies in the freezer, but it was far too much trouble for my liking, with Blaine’s connections being iffy at best. Too many men asked questions they shouldn’t be asking, but there is no way in hell I would ever ask my dad’s men to take care of it, so I guess I’m content.