Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
It would be tough. I was bracing myself for the media frenzy. For the long legal battle. But my parents would get justice and so would the people they were trying to fight for. That’s all that mattered.
The only things missing from my life were London and something real with Ramsay.
Because I knew I wanted that now.
I wanted to be with him.
After the night he’d admitted to me it was more than sex for him too, he hadn’t pulled away. He hadn’t put up a wall. In fact, every day I felt him grow more affectionate, tender with me. A little unguarded. I was hopeful he would really start opening up to me soon.
And maybe … if I opened up first, he would.
I was going to tell him the truth about the threats instead of waiting for it to go to print. It would say to him that I trusted him, and I think our relationship needed that.
Sometimes, you had to be the one to give up your damn pride and make the first move.
Ten minutes later, Taran had to return to work and so did Cammie and me. We hugged our friend goodbye, waved to Ewan and Martha, and stepped out onto Main Street.
Cammie’s ringtone suddenly blasted in her purse. While my ringtone was boring and traditional, Cammie’s was a song by some Scottish band with a weird name. Biffy Clyro. It was loud, it was rock, and it was so Cammie.
“Oh, this is a client,” she said, pulling her phone from her purse. “I’ll catch you later?”
“Sure. Talk soon.” I left her, heading toward my apartment. I had the urge to try to catch London on a video call so I could tell her more about Ramsay, that I was going to tell him the truth. She’d always been my best and favorite sounding board and it was weird not having her around all the time to talk to. Especially about the big stuff.
And Ramsay … I knew he was the big stuff for me.
Maybe even the biggest. At least … I knew I’d never felt this way about any man before.
It was raining, not a heavy downpour, only a drizzle. I was kind of getting used to it, so I didn’t even bother to pull up my hood.
Then I saw the rainbow over Stòr. I bit my lip against the massive grin that wanted to spread over my cheeks as I strode toward the harbor barrier, pulling my phone from my purse to take a photo of it to send to Ramsay.
It looked so beautiful and vivid against the stormy clouds around it.
I was tempted to send it to him with a text that read: “Grumpy vs. Sunshine.”
As a non-romance reader, he totally wouldn’t get it.
I chuckled at the thought, taking a few more snaps before I turned back toward the road to cross it. My view was abruptly blocked by a broad chest in a dark hoodie and my heart jumped as I looked up into a masked face, fear ricocheting through me too late. A male voice that sounded distorted said, “Maybe this will shut you up.”
He made a blunt movement toward me, and a sharp, burning pain radiated through my midsection. It was so brutal my knees gave out as he grabbed my purse and fled.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, using my free one to catch my fall as I watched in disoriented horror as he took off down Main Street.
My hand came away from my belly covered in blood.
He’d stabbed me.
Surreal terror shot through me as I cried hoarsely for help.
Nearby cries of shock filled my ears as I fell onto my back, the sky a dark blur above me.
26. Ramsay
Because I’d been so focused on Silver’s B and B, I had requests for freelance work piling up. Today, I wasn’t needed on-site, so I headed over to the cheese farm this morning to fit a couple of bookshelves I’d built for them. Now they were custom milled into place in their café that abutted the farm.
My plan was to head back to Stòr to lose myself in my workshop. But first a stop at the bakery. Between my workouts in my home gym, the physicality of my job, and the sexual workouts I was getting regularly with Silver, I was hungry all the time lately.
Akiva waited outside for me and as I stepped out, she gave a sudden bark and took off down Main Street.
A hooded, masked figure, too tall and broad to be a woman, shot past me clutching a woman’s handbag and threw his body over the harbor wall. Instinct had me racing across the street as the cries hit my ears. The man scrambled to his feet and unwound the rope anchoring a small speedboat. My eyes flew down Main Street to where Akiva had run to, where the cries for help sounded.