Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 119184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
It’s so silly I’m laughing, making these honking sounds that leave my face burning.
“But are you saying there’s a moral?” I ask when I can speak again. “I don’t think we’ll ever have a Barry swooping in on our squirrel.”
God, I wish.
“No, but someone’s trying to save your nest. Would it really be so bad to let him?”
Knife, meet heart.
Her big, soul-searching eyes nearly drop me on my face. The realization hits like lightning.
I’m in love with my Blue.
I love Brady Pruitt.
And here I am, blowing up and acting bonkers because I love him so truly and deeply and he’ll never know.
I’ve lost my shit—and the plot—because I’m terrified Harry Jay will exploit the past to run him off like he did to my mom.
I don’t answer, but I don’t need to.
A knowing smile hangs on Elle’s face as she gets up to call into the cabin, telling the captain we’re ready to start making our way home.
We stare at the pretty scenery a little while longer while rocks bang around my head and Elle tells me about their home away from home.
Woe is me.
The kind of misery that no number of tall trees and scenic rocks and a glimpse of a black bear can fix.
The bear’s pretty cool, though, no lie.
And I feel a little lighter as the boat slides back into its dock and my phone finally pings.
But it’s not Brady.
It’s Dr. Ezzie, and her text is just a link to a news story.
A Seattle news story.
An exclusive about big-time developer Harry Jay and some insanely dirty business dealings.
Every drop of blood drains from my body as I read.
The article discusses the myriad ways Harry manipulated property owners to accept his offers: strong-arm sales involving code violations, county fines, sudden liens out of nowhere.
The same familiar shit show he’s made us live.
“Oh my God,” I manage, taking a seat on a bench by her docks. “Holy shit.”
“Holy what?” Elle yanks the phone from my hand and starts scrolling, her eyes flicking with excitement. “Lena . . . this is brilliant!”
“It’s something,” I grunt. I feel like I need to be coached to remember how to breathe. “It’s—”
A disaster.
A death wish.
No way in hell will Harry ever let this go.
Everything I thought I was protecting Brady from just sealed his fate. And just like Elle’s blue cardinal, I’m scared he’s picked a fight he can’t win.
But Elle doesn’t see it that way, of course, not when her glass is always half full.
“Now you’ve got him. This is huge!” she whoops.
“This wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything.”
“No, but between you and Brady, you’ve got that jerkwad’s balls in the vice.” She leans over the dock and spits like the delicate lady she is.
“He is a jerkwad,” I agree.
“Think about it, Lena—he doesn’t deserve to get away with any of this shit. It’s not just what he put you through. The article says there must be at least a dozen people he’s screwed over.” She points a finger at me. “You see it now? You know what you have to do?”
I know the argument Brady and I had at his apartment. He wanted to fight so bad, and I wouldn’t let him.
I ran away.
I bowed out with his heart, and I even left Dr. Ezzie high and dry.
Chickenshit.
I have to admit, Elle has a point, even if she drives it home in the weirdest ways.
I’m so sick of being afraid.
Afraid of what Harry will do to me. Afraid of what he’ll do to my clinic. Afraid of what it means if I love another man after he hurt me so much.
One man ruined my past and present, but I let him.
Do I really want to hand over my future too?
No way.
No effing way.
I’m not turning over my career, my life, and the only man who’s ever treated me better than an annoying cactus.
If I don’t want other people fighting my battles, it’s time to go home and go to war.
“You’re smiling,” Elle says uncertainly.
“Well, yeah. I’m about to open up some long-overdue hell.”
XXII
Rabid Dog
(Brady)
I won’t lie. Punching Harry Jay in the throat feels like a win.
It’s past time that eel had to fight for his life.
The only thing I don’t know is if it’s too late to matter. If Lena will rethink the last few days or decide I’m just another villain in her story.
The condo feels like a mausoleum without her. Queenie aside, I dread coming home, hating how Lena has left her impression on damn near everything.
It shouldn’t be possible to miss a woman this much—especially when love was always an illusion.
Still, I can’t lie even to myself.
I miss her like hell.
When my phone buzzes, I’m grabbing it desperately, but it’s not Lena.
“Luis,” I answer. “What’s up?”
“I think you’ve seen the headlines, yes?”
“Yeah. Would you agree it’s going well?”
“According to my sources, he’s sinking like a stone. The man will be stuck under a ten-thousand-pound legal boulder in days.” There’s a smug pride in every word.