Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
There’s a knock at the door. Cass hesitates, but she peels herself away and goes to answer. I can tell by the way her spine stiffens who it is, even before my father speaks.
“Hello, Cassidy. May I have a moment with my daughter?”
“Of course, Mr. McGrath. You’re looking very dapper.”
“Thank you.” He doesn’t smile as she slips out of the room and shuts the door behind her.
My father gives me a hard look. He doesn’t move to give me a hug, doesn’t smile, doesn’t show sympathy. He only tilts his head to the side and pinches his lips together as if he were studying an unruly child.
“You aren’t going to tell me how beautiful I am on my wedding day, Daddy?” I give him my best smile and spin my dress.
“Cut the shit, Riley.” His tone is sharp. He’s clearly not in the mood for my games. And frankly, I’m not either, but fuck him for acting like this all the time. “I want to make sure you’re not going to cause trouble.”
“It’s my wedding day,” I say, struggling to keep the malice from my tone. “Why would the blushing bride cause trouble?”
He steps closer. His jaw flexes with frustration. All these years, my father never once hit me, not even at his most angry. He’s said plenty of nasty things—but he never touched me.
Now, for the first time ever, I wonder if he’s finally going to do it.
And a sick part of me wants him to.
Go ahead, you bastard. Show yourself who you really are.
“If you run, I will follow,” he says very softly, staring at me the whole time. “There’s no hole you can hide in. No country you can disappear to. No friend will help you. This wedding is happening, and afterward, you’ll do your duty as a wife to that man. Do you understand me?”
I ball my hands into fists. I can see myself hitting him, screaming in his face, letting him see how much this is killing me.
But he won’t give a shit.
Because I’m nothing but a disappointment.
“Yes, Dad,” I say through my teeth, tasting the words like bile.
“No trouble this time, Riley. No outbursts, no stubbornness, no bullshit. Walk down the aisle and do right by the family for once.”
“I will.”
“Good.” He turns away. “Don’t embarrass me.”
Then he leaves, and I’m left alone.
Anger flares in my guts. I’m not mad at him though. That’s exactly what I expected from my prick of a father.
No, I’m pissed at myself, yet again.
There’s something about that man. I hate him so much, but no matter what he says to me, I still crave his approval. He turns me into a quivering, pathetic little child with nothing but a hard stare and a sharp word.
It’s absolutely crushing, and it’s not me.
Nobody else in the world would ever dare treat me that way because I’d never let them.
Except for my father.
I fall to pieces every time, and I loathe myself for it.
On a whim, I storm into my closet, pop out the board, and open my hidden safe. Inside are all my treasures, tucked away and hidden.
I grab out the antique watch. It ticks at me, quiet and steady, and I shove it down the front of my dress and get it wedged down in my waistline, the bulge hidden by the skirt.
It’s awkward and uncomfortable, but it instantly makes me feel better.
The watch reminds me that I’m not a weakling. I’m not the little loser girl I crumble into whenever my father treats me like crap.
I’m a thief. And a pretty good one, too.
I pat the watch and take a deep breath. “You can do this,” I whisper to myself as I shut the safe and put the board back into place.
Another knock. Cass comes back into my room, looking sad. “You ready?” she asks. “The car’s here.”
“I’m ready.” I hold my head up high. No crying on my wedding day. “Let’s go get hitched.”
Chapter 9
Alexan
I’ve seen her a dozen times since that first afternoon when she broke into my house. From a distance, from up close, through binoculars and on a screen. I’ve studied my future wife with an obsessive eye for detail.
But I never saw her like this.
Perfect
She walks down the aisle escorted by her grim-looking brother. But everything around her disappears. Riley floats along in a long-sleeved lacy dress, tight at the top with a pleated billowing skirt. It doesn’t show an ounce of skin, and she still somehow makes it look obscene. Her auburn hair’s half up in a complicated braid and there are flowers woven through it.
She looks like a Celtic warrior queen from legend.
Her brother deposits her across from me, and our eyes lock. She stares at me, lips parted slightly, and I think about what they must taste like.
I know how she sounds when she comes.