Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Looking back at Sabastian, he snapped, “Today then. But don’t hold your breath.”
Sabastian smirked, knowing exactly what to do and say to get under the other man’s skin. He wanted Leandro wild with jealousy because it would make him more prone to speak the truth once he had Bobby alone with him. “I don’t need to hold my breath, Christopoulos. I know my Bobby—-”
Leandro stiffened.
“—-and I know at the end of the day, she’ll choose me.”
Sabastian looked down, and the sight of Bobby’s curled fist against his shirt pained him. It was even more painful to force her to let go, to feel her resist against letting go. “You will choose me in the end, won’t you, moro mou?”
Bobby didn’t answer.
And the fact that she didn’t gave both men hope.
BOBBY REMAINED STIFF and quiet, seated next to Leandro in his car. She didn’t ask where they were going – she was too afraid of what she would say or do if she found out about his plans.
Her silence gnawed at Leandro and for the thousandth time, he questioned himself. Bobby, he thought broodingly, had shown all signs of being over him. She had in fact kissed another man in front of him when the thought of kissing another woman had never even occurred to him.
“How long have you known Gabris?”
The harshly spoken words took Bobby completely by surprise, and she asked blankly, “Why do you care?”
“Because I want to know, dammit!”
“You don’t have a right to ask.”
The car screeched to a stop as Leandro made a sharp turn at the side of the road, causing Bobby to slam hard against the side of her door. “Are you crazy?” she shrieked as her heart galloped in fear. After this morning’s race, she didn’t think she could ever manage riding in anything that could go faster than 20 miles per hour.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Leandro raked back at her. “What do I need to tell you to make you listen to me?”
“Nothing! Nothing will make me believe a word you say anymore! I don’t care about you—-”
“Is that why you screamed when you saw the rope bridge giving out?”
Bobby whitened.
“Is it better for you to see me die? Because just say the word, mégaira,” he grated out, “and I can easily go back and this time I won’t do a thing to stop me from—-”
“NO.” The word was torn out of her. It was too much, the memory of Leandro falling in the sky too vivid and raw to keep her from reacting to the threat in his words. If Leandro had died, if Leandro had died -—
She started to cry, pummeling his chest with her fists. “No!” The word came out as a sob and a scream. “It won’t be better for me, damn you. I wish it was but it won’t!”
Leandro hauled her into his lap, easily restraining her as she tried to pull away. It was a tight fit inside his sports car, and when Bobby realized that there was no way she could squirm away from him, she cried harder and beat his chest again. “I hate you. I hate you so much.”
“I welcome your hatred, mégaira,” he said grimly. “It is better than having you indifferent.”
She cried harder at his words, wishing there was a way to make her deaf to the sincerity in his voice. He sounded like he meant it, but he couldn’t. It was impossible he did. “I hate you.”
“And I love you.”
“Stop saying that!”
His hands cupped her face, forcing him to look at her. “I’ll never stop saying what’s true—-”
Her eyes blazed in hurt accusation, the pain in it so deep it cut him to pieces. Only now was he beginning to see how much he had hurt her that night. Only now was he beginning to understand that such pain was only possible because Bobby had also loved him so much.
“Listen to me,” he said rawly. “Just this once, let me tell you everything.”
She tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let her. “Don’t you ever run out of lies?” Bobby demanded painfully. She was so damn tired of running away from the past, from him and all the stupid lies he had made her believe.
“I’ll never lie to you again,” he grated out. “I swear it on my father’s grave, Bobby. I swear it on the name of Orion Christopoulos. I won’t lie to you again.”
Bobby knew that with those words, she couldn’t doubt him. But her heart veered away from completely believing him. If she made herself believe, then she might as well have invited Leandro to play Russian roulette with her life all over again.
It goddamn hurt for Bobby not to believe in him even after swearing on his father’s name, but Leandro knew her distrust was more than well-deserved. “Bobby, when I first saw you, I thought you were a bitch.”