Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Every step I take is fueled by the need to make Grandfather pay. I’ve lost so much because of him, and now it’s my turn to take something. It won’t bring back what I’ve lost, but it will satisfy this burning need inside me. He thinks he’s untouchable, but his arrogance will be his downfall.
I’m a storm ready to unleash hell. He won’t see it coming until it’s too late. I’ll be his reckoning. I’ll be his nightmare. And when it’s done, maybe then I’ll find some peace.
Or maybe this vengeful vice will have consumed me completely, and there will be nothing left but the ashes of my own destruction.
But until then I will be relentless. Nothing will stand in my way. They will regret the day they crossed me. This isn’t just a promise. It’s my reality, my unyielding obsession.
I didn’t mean to fall in love.
I didn’t mean to drag an innocent woman into my underworld.
I press my lips to Raven’s soft cheek.
Then I rise from the bed, dress quietly, and leave.
Never to see her again.
1
RAVEN
The sun cascades through my window as I wake up. I rise, throw my legs over to the side of the bed, stretching my arms over my head.
Vinnie and I had sex last night.
Correction. We made love.
He said he loves me. And I told him I love him.
God, I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier.
I look around. He’s not here. Odd. I throw on a robe. Maybe he’s an early riser, got up to make a pot of coffee.
I saunter into the kitchen, yawning. “Vinnie?”
But he’s not here.
Maybe he had an early meeting with that grandfather of his. Certainly he’d have left me a note, though, right?
I’ll check my phone. Maybe he left me a text.
I turn on the screen. No texts at all since last night.
Including from Brick. I check to make sure the text I sent him canceling our date went through. It did.
He was probably pissed at me for flaking at the last minute. I can’t blame him. I sigh. I guess I’ll have to find another lawyer to help me out with the nonprofit.
But Vinnie didn’t text me, which is weird.
I put the phone down. I’m about to start a pot of coffee when it rings.
It’s my mom. Damn it. I didn’t text her last night to let her know I’d be spending the night at my place. She’ll be beside herself with worry.
“Hello?”
“Oh Raven, thank God.”
Mom’s voice is high-pitched and energetic. I can hear a lot of hustle and bustle in the background. The house seems very active for early in the morning.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I forgot to call you last night.”
“Are you at your place?”
“I am.”
“Thank God.” Mom’s voice is still pretty frantic.
My heart begins to race, but I’m not sure why. All I know is something isn’t right here.
“Is anything the matter?” I gasp. “Is something wrong with Dad?”
“No, sweetheart. Your father and I are fine. But we…” She lets out a hysteric sob.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
But she can’t seem to get herself together. Something is very wrong here.
“Can you put Dad on?”
Mom blubbers out some words I can’t make out, but then I hear my dad’s voice on the receiver. “Raven. Didn’t you have a date with that lawyer last night?”
“I did.” The guilt hits me again. “But I… I wasn’t feeling too great, so I canceled it.”
Dad’s tone is artificially even. “Did you cancel it at the very last minute?”
“I did.”
“I see.” Dad pauses. “Your mother and I went to a movie last night. We got back late and went straight to bed. This morning, she got up to check on you, and…”
“What, Dad? I wasn’t there? I’m sorry, I should have called to—”
“No, it’s not that.” Dad clears his throat. “She found…someone else in your bed.”
My blood runs cold. “What?”
“Yes.” Dad pauses. “It was…a body.”
My heart is pounding out of my chest. “A body? Like…a dead body?”
“Yes.” Dad’s voice is shaking through the phone. “The lawyer. Mr. Latham. His throat slit wide open.”
Oh my God, oh my God…
“There was a note on your nightstand next to him. Handwriting I don’t recognize.”
A note? Oh God, did he kill himself? He seemed pretty level-headed. Surely a broken date wouldn’t be something that would drive him to…
There’s no way.
I draw in a shaky breath. “What did it say?” I whisper.
I can hear Dad shudder from the other end of the line before he finally speaks again.
“Your move, Cobra.”
Cobra? Fear surges through me. What does that mean? How did—
“How… The house… How…”
“Somehow the security system was disarmed,” Dad says, his low voice a monotone. “It’s state of the art. I don’t know how it happened.”
My father’s voice sounds…unsure. Unsure and frightened. And my father never sounds unsure and frightened. Even when I was sick, he kept his strength. He never let me see his fear for me. He knew I needed him to be strong.