Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I shrink back, nearly stumbling if it weren’t for Caius hooking an arm around my waist.
“Help?” I choke out, disgusted. “It didn’t help. If anything, it made things worse.”
Dad shoves his plate away and tosses his napkin onto it. “This is hardly a topic for dinner.”
“I don’t fucking care!” I bellow. “May as well get it all out in the open now!”
Caius doesn’t urge me to calm down, which strangely endears me to him. All my life I’ve been told to sit down, shut up, and remember the good things. If I bucked against my father in any way, I was guilted or shamed until I fell back in line. And if I had the audacity to keep pushing on the pain of what happened to me, it was more therapy and more meds. He made sure I was brainwashed and drugged so I’d leave it alone.
Why, though?
She was nothing to our family. A glorified, overly paid babysitter.
“Do you feel better knowing?” Dad challenges as he rises to his feet. “I was saving you from a lifetime of emotional outbursts like this one.”
“Saving me?” I say with a huff. “Dad, you gaslit me my entire life into thinking my nanny didn’t molest me!”
Caius
I tense at her words.
Wait, nanny?
Several things click together all at once.
“We have to go,” I snarl, no longer interested in watching this argument. “Now.”
Romy nods emphatically, jerking herself out of my hold to head for the door. I don’t spare Gideon a second glance as I hurry to catch up with her. She slips out the front door and by the time I make it to the hallway, she’s almost to the elevators, forcing me to run to catch up to her. When the elevator doors open, we both rush inside.
I yank my phone out of my pocket the second she pushes the lobby level button, texting my baby brother. He doesn’t respond after several texts, which makes my anxiety heighten. Romy wipes away her tears with her sleeves, drying away any sadness along with it. In its place is determined resolve. Her shoulders are squared and anger twists her features into something dark but beautiful. Needing to touch her, if only to calm my own nerves, I clasp my hand on the back of her neck. She shudders as my thumb strokes the side of her neck.
“I knew it,” she mutters under her breath. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.”
I don’t berate her for not saying anything until now. Gideon, through means not as successful as our CUP program, tried to brainwash her. He’d hoped to erase what’d happened to her by taking away her memories. It’s no different than what I’d tried to do with her about Gareth’s rape. Disgust seeps into my pores. For someone who uses these people to find my poor, most-likely abused sister, I sure have become one of them.
Calista would be horrified by who I’ve become.
I try not to think of my sister, but my mind drifts to LuLu on Solomon’s yacht. Even if I’d wanted to help her, what could I have done? It would have blown apart everything for me. Calista would have no hope after that. But LuLu may’ve been someone’s sister. What if they’re out looking for her as we speak?
The elevator doors reopen, depositing us into the lobby. As much as I want to dwell on what a bad fucking human I am, I push that down to deal with later. We have more pressing issues at hand.
Outside, the valet has kept our rental near the front like I’d paid him to do. After I pass him another handful of cash, he hands over the keys and we’re gone—away from the place she calls home.
Traffic is a nightmare and I find myself cursing. Romy leans over, reaches her hand into my jacket where I’ve stored her phone, and retrieves it. The passenger side lights up as she attempts calling someone, presumably Theo. When she can’t reach him, she hisses and then starts rapid-fire texting.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
“Call your dad,” she says, voice strained. “Siri, call Orion.”
“I have Siri disabled for security reasons,” I grunt. “We’re almost there. It’ll take too long to explain to him anyway.”
Within minutes, we arrive at the hotel. After a quick exchange with the valet there, we take another elevator, this one to the level where we’ve booked several suites. As we pass the hotel bar, I see Theo and Dad inside, yapping with a pretty brunette. I have the urge to throw my phone at Theo’s head but decide against it.
Inside the elevator, Romy bounces on her toes, nervously wringing her hands together. I crack my neck, a habit I sometimes do when I’m pissed. She side-eyes me quickly before going back to watching the level numbers change with each floor we go up.