Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I pull the last tooth and get out of that fucking car as fast as I can. This is fucking sick! I pace as David douses the body in gasoline. I hear him strike a match. I don’t look back. I just walk straight ahead to David’s patrol car. The entire drive back to my car, I fight the urge to throw up. I can smell death on me, and I don’t know that any amount of washing will get rid of the stench. I stare out the window and I wonder how in the hell I got to the point of desecrating bodies, but above
anything else, I wonder why in the hell she’s been put into my life.
I fold the newspaper and pick up the phone.
I hear the lull of the TVs in the background before anyone says anything. “Yeah,” Rich groans.
“Send Caleb down with the girl.”
“All right.”
I set the receiver down and light a cigarette. Leaning back in the chair, I take a long pull from the smoke and train my eyes on the door.
Within a few minutes, I hear footsteps on the stairs, and then Caleb walks into the room with Tor. Just looking at her causes a reaction in me: anger, guilt, need. I don’t fucking like that she makes me feel anything, and I try to look anywhere but her face. I trail my eyes over the pair of jeans she’s wearing, over the loose shirt that hangs from one shoulder. I cringe when I notice the long pink wound across her throat.
“Sit down.” I point to the chair in front of my desk.
She silently does as asked. There is nothing in her eyes. No fight. No fear. There’s a fragility about her that makes me want to protect her, and that’s some fucked-up shit right there.
“I need to tell you something.” I pause and look her over. What I’m about to tell her is going to send her over the edge. She looks so frail, and this is going to be hard for her to process. I am pretty much ripping away any sliver of hope she may have left. This will make her hate me even more than she already does because she won’t possibly understand that the sole reason I’m doing this is to protect her. Why would she believe that a man who held her captive would ever be trying to save her?
“If I could, I would protect you from this…” I trail off, waiting to see how she responds.
Her eyes set on me, cold and hard. “It would seem that the only person I need protection from is you and your family.”
I tried to help her the only way I know, but I guess revenge doesn’t work the same for everyone. She still blames me, still hates me. I narrow my gaze. “You think?” I arch my brow and shake my head. “Because I can assure you that Joe is a much bigger threat to you than I am.”
“Fine, enlighten me.”
I glance over to Caleb. “Get out,” I say. I don’t want anyone else in here because I know this is going to be awful.
He looks nervously at Tor before walking out of the room. The door softly closes behind him, and I rise, walking around my desk.
“You know…I visited Euan the other day.”
“Oh, did you have fun?” A wry smile pulls at her lips, and I can’t help but grin at the slightly sadistic glint in her eyes. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
“Tor,” I lean over her chair, gripping the arms, inching my way closer to her until the only thing I see are her gun-metal blue eyes. I gently sweep a stray piece of hair behind her ear. I trail my finger down her jaw, and her muscles stiffen, but she doesn’t pull away. My gaze drifts over her full lips before slowly rising back to meet her eyes. “Trust me, when someone fucks with something that’s in my possession. I. Am. Brutal.” Those last three words come out so low, so hoarse, I almost don’t even recognize my own voice.
Her eyes hold mine. I know she wants to ask me if I killed him, because there’s not much more that comment could have insinuated, but she remains completely silent. There’s no reason to tell her Euan’s dead, because in a moment that won’t even matter.
“I just want you to remember that I did this to protect you from Joe. He will kill you if he finds you because this didn’t go the way he planned.” I inhale as I slam down the front page of the Vanderbilt newspaper in front of her. “I’ve done what I had to do to ensure your protection.”
She eyes me before glancing down at the article. Her brows pinch in confusion, then her face washes white. “What...is this?” Her voice is a breathless whisper.