Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
He stopped right in front of me, and I steeled myself as he leaned in close and rumbled in my ear, “I think what you’re trying to do is do me in.”
Every word was serrated, and the breath I inhaled was sharp. The only thing it did was drag that horribly delicious scent into my aching lungs.
Cherries drenched in whiskey.
I wondered if he’d been hitting the bottle at eight in the morning.
“Do you in? I’m pretty sure it’s me who’s at the disadvantage.”
“I guess it’s only fair then.” He said it like we were even.
A shock of disbelief puffed out of me. “There’s nothing fair about this. You bossing me around and not telling me why you’re doing it.”
“You haven’t come close to seeing me bossy, Brinley.”
I scoffed, and a vat of indignation filled my voice. “You tossing me around last night wasn’t you being bossy?”
Silas somehow managed to angle closer. So close his chest hit my mug that I had clutched between us.
“Not even close.”
Air hefted free. “Is that what you want? Me afraid of you? Well, I’m not.”
It was a blatant lie. There was no question this man could tear me to shreds, and he would take great pleasure in doing it.
I didn’t want to wonder how many kills he had notched on his belt, but right then, it was the other notches I was irresponsibly speculating about.
A fool who was wondering if he’d wandered back to that party last night and snatched up one of the willing women after he’d left me panting and confused.
My underwear soaked and my ego bruised.
I hated him for that, too.
Hated that he wielded this stupid power over me. Power I would be nothing but an idiot to submit to him.
I didn’t know if I wanted to flinch or lean into it when he lifted his hand and lightly fluttered his fingertips down the angle of my cheek.
The only thing I knew was my heart careened.
Battering hard and fast.
One brush of his hand, and he shifted everything into overdrive.
His sage eyes deepened a shade darker as they narrowed. “You should be afraid, Brinley. But not of me.”
I gulped around the razors in my throat. “Tell me what the hell is going on.”
Contemplation filled his gaze, and for a beat, his voice softened in regret. “Can’t let you in on that.”
Anger surged. Ire and disbelief.
This was such bullshit.
“All these secrets are driving me crazy.”
“Some things are better left unknown.”
Was he serious?
“At least be man enough to give me something. Am I here to fulfill my brother’s debt?”
I couldn’t even try to pinpoint exactly what it was that flashed through his expression, there were so many emotions that came all at once.
Repulsion and distaste and deep-seated fury.
And concern, maybe?
Or maybe I was just grasping at straws. Praying my captor wasn’t as vile as he appeared to be, the ridiculous urges he’d ignited in me warping my common sense.
Silas’s head barely shook, and the words ground from between his lips. “No, Brinley, this isn’t about money or debt. You’re here so I can protect you from the very fucking stupid decisions your brother has made.”
So many accusations were woven into that one sentence that I couldn’t make sense of them all.
The clear statement that Silas was making.
That my brother was bad to the core.
My chest tightened, and I heaved, “You’re a liar.”
He tipped his head in challenge. “Am I?”
I didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to accept what he was implying.
No, I didn’t have a whole lot to go on.
But it was enough to know after Silas’s actions last night and what he was saying this morning, plus the way Dereck had been acting, that things were much worse than I’d even imagined.
And believe me, my imagination was morbid.
Morbid because I’d seen to the depths of perversion.
I gulped, trying to suppress the way those terrors had carved the deepest scars.
It hurt knowing Dereck had been responsible for those, too.
God, I was so tired of it. Tired of him dragging me around like a rag doll.
Disregarded.
Always his last concern when he’d always been my number one.
My oath to take care of him more than just a fleeting promise. It was my last connection. An act of my love and eternal loyalty.
And there that concern was again, ballooning up in me and pushing out every other thought.
“Is he going to be okay?”
Something passed through Silas’s features. Something deep as he lifted his hand again, that time to brush the pad of his thumb along the edge of my mouth.
My stomach tightened, disgusted that I liked it so much.
“Look at you.” His voice had gone grumbly. Too soft for my own good. “Confined here without knowing why and the one thing you’re worried about is him.”
“He’s my brother. The only thing I have.” I probably shouldn’t admit it, but maybe this guy needed to understand what was on the line.