Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 179812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 899(@200wpm)___ 719(@250wpm)___ 599(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 179812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 899(@200wpm)___ 719(@250wpm)___ 599(@300wpm)
But I trail off because first, even though I know where I put my phone, in my back pocket, I still somehow can’t reach it. Probably because my hands are shaking so bad. And second, because just as I stop speaking and fumble for my phone, I’m enveloped in the tightest hug of the night.
By Callie.
And she whispers, “It’s okay. It’s fine. You’re with family now.”
And I guess that was the last straw because I break down crying. I sag in her hold with relief, with exhaustion, with all the love I have for her. I know she never knew, but I always considered her more than a friend. I always looked at her like a sister and wished so hard that she’d do the same. And she is now, isn’t she? It hardly took any effort. All I had to do was tell the truth and she accepted me as I am.
That gives me the courage to open my eyes and at last look up.
Only for my eyes to land on somehow the last and also the only person I wanted to see. Him. He’s standing off to the side. In fact, he isn’t really in the living room even but still at the mouth of the hallway, by the stairs. I’m not sure when he arrived or how he got there without me noticing—probably used the back door, but I can’t be sure—but somehow I know he heard everything. He was there for every single second, and he heard every single word. He never gave me a chance to explain that night.
Not that he owed me his time but if he had, I would’ve told him. I would’ve told him everything. About when I saw him for the first time and how I followed him around for years. I probably would’ve told him everything in my heart so he could crush it and have his revenge. Maybe it would have made everything even sweeter for him than leaving me on the floor, naked, my core pulsing from the touch of his boot.
And now that he knows everything, I have absolutely no idea what he’s thinking right now. All I know is that his eyes are locked on me.
They’re locked on me so tight and so hard that I know I’m the only thing he can see. Because he’s the only thing I can see in this moment. The rest of the world has disappeared and all I can focus on is him. His large and broad body. His wide stance and fisted hands. The way he’s breathing hard and fast, a little wildly, causing his chest to swell big. His messy hair. The harsh lines of his face.
God, it feels like ages since I saw him.
But he hasn’t changed at all. No he’s still the same. I still feel that connection with him. I still feel that intimacy, that sense of safety. I still feel cherished by the way he’s looking at me. Even though I know it’s not true. It’s all in my head.
I don’t get to dwell on that though, these feelings, because someone knocks at the door. Actually, someone bangs on it and the moment breaks. I finally take in the rest of the room, the rest of the men, Conrad, Ledger and Reed, and they’re all on alert now. They stand up from their seats, their eyes collectively locked on that door, and Ledger heads to it.
We stand up too, Callie and I, but she doesn’t let go of my hand. If anything, Tempest holds my other hand and Wyn puts her hand over both of ours, giving me all their strength, silently telling me they’re there for me, and my chest warms with gratitude.
In any case, Ledger’s the one who opens the door, and it turns out I needed all the support I could get in this moment because it reveals my mother. At first I think I’m dreaming. She can’t possibly be here. If she hates anything more than me in this world, or at least as much as me, it’s the Thornes. She absolutely hates them for existing.
Growing up, I’d hear Jeremy and my mom fight about them a lot especially after we moved to Bardstown. Jeremy would want to see them, but only to ask them for money, seeing how the brothers had done so well for themselves. But my mom always refused. She didn’t want anything to do with them. She saw them as a threat that could take Jeremy away, like me.
So this doesn’t seem real. Until her angry eyes land on me and her face twists in rage as she snaps, “I knew it. I knew I’d find you here. I knew you’d come here, begging at their doorstep. How many times have I told you not to have any contact with them? You’re not to even look at them.”