Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
He shook his head. “I’m not sure I’d go that far. But in this case, yeah. I didn’t care what happened to me.”
“I don’t want to hear this, do I?” It wasn’t a question I needed answered.
“Probably not. I’ll be honest with you, Violet, I don’t think I should tell Caleb my story. Earlier I promised him I would, but I should have thought the decision through. Having done that, I’m not going to lie to him. There might be things I omit, but I won’t lie.”
“No. Caleb would never trust you again.”
“I’ll tell you the unfiltered version now, if you want. Then you can decide how you want me to present it to Caleb.”
“Are you even real?” The question slipped out before I realized I was going to say it. “No man is this patient and understanding.” That last was grumbled under my breath.
Riot’s warm chuckle filled the room and dispelled the last of my tension. Yeah, the conversation was getting ready to get serious, but there was something about Riot that put me at ease. It was a dangerous thing to trust a man like Riot. I knew that without a doubt. I also knew I trusted him with my life. And my son’s. “I hope so. Otherwise, I’m not sure who you’re talking to.”
I stared at him for long moments. This man was like no one I’d ever met before. I’d been around killers all my life. While I had no doubt this man was as dangerous as any one of them, he was different. He had a moral code. I could also tell he wasn’t proud of his past. Or, at least, he thought his past would be something we’d balk at. He’d been correct. Both Caleb and I had both been nervous, but Riot had proved to be more than what was on the surface. So, I decided if he was going to have to spill his guts, I’d go first.
I took a deep breath and began. “My mother was the daughter of a low-level soldier with the Russo family in South Florida. Ritchie, the son of the patriarch, got my mother pregnant. Mr. Russo didn’t approve of my mother, but Ritchie was his youngest son and the baby my mother was carrying was his grandson.”
“Grandson?” Riot raised an eyebrow.
“Surprise! Granddaughter. Not grandson. My grandfather wasn’t impressed. He tried to talk my father into making my mother have a home birth, but he refused. Despite my grandfather’s obsession with the family business and blood ties, my father loved my mother. I’m not sure if he ever loved me, but my mother did, so Ritchie let her keep me. Pretty sure my grandfather intended to kill my mother’s child if it was a girl.”
“Sounds like real winners, those two.”
“My father and grandfather?” I snorted a laugh. “Oh, yeah. Parent and grandparent of the year. Anyway, Mr. Russo needed a tie with the Harrington family here in Nashville. As I understand it, the arrangement benefited Mr. Harrington far more than it did Mr. Russo, so when I was offered to Doug, his father jumped at the offer.”
“The head of the Harrington family is your husband’s father?”
“Yes. But there’s no love lost. It’s why Doug got saddled with me instead of Nevada. Nevada Harrington is next in line to lead the family and his father’s favorite by far. I think Mr. Russo thought Mr. Harrington would marry me to Nevada. As I understand it, that was the plan. There was a rush to finalize their deal for some reason, so Mr. Harrington agreed to the terms before doing his research on the granddaughter no one knew anything about. Once he did, he changed plans so I’d be marrying the misfit brother instead of the one who had the real power. It left Nevada free to secure a similar deal with an enemy of Mr. Russo and get payback for them pawning off a useless woman no one wanted.”
“Sounds pretty Goddamned miserable for you.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t had an accident before now. The only reason is Caleb. I got pregnant really quickly after I married Doug, so they didn’t want to do anything until after I had the baby. From the very beginning, Caleb didn’t want anyone but me so they let me live. The older Caleb got, the more protective of me he got, which vexed his dad to no end.”
“Oh? Didn’t like him attached to his mom?”
“No, I think it was that he thought Caleb should follow in his shoes. He should want to be with his father instead of his mother.”
“So, jealousy.”
I chuckled softly. “Beyond belief. Caleb didn’t know what was going on, and Doug was careful to keep it from him. He knew Caleb would always take my side. Caleb had proven it over and over whenever Doug would say anything out of the way to me. Even if I was in the wrong, Caleb would stand up to his father. For whatever reason, instead of turning his anger on Caleb, Doug did his best to win him over. The past couple of months, they’d spent a lot of time together. To hear Caleb talk, they had a great time doing all kinds of different father-and-son type things.”