Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
I sat and watched them on the security cameras the night they spent together and heard it all, but I left out the part about how I knew. Let Hunter think Coby confided in me on her own.
“We’re getting married,” I confirmed. Hunter’s nostrils flared. Her only reaction. “And no matter how hard you fight to prevent that, Coby will be my wife.” I left out the reasons why since they no longer mattered. I’m not sure they ever did.
I’ve wanted Coby since the moment I first saw her. The craving was fucking relentless. It grew stronger until I was past willing to do anything—cross any line—to have her. It started with having her surveilled. At first, I’d hoped to find something to cure my obsession once her guard was down, but there was only one thing hidden in Coby’s life that had given me pause.
Hunter.
She never came around whenever Coby visited her brother’s club, so I hadn’t been prepared for the beauty when I started stalking her best friend. Instead of my interest in Coby shifting, it continued to embed itself into my psyche the more I learned about these women and how they had formed some kind of symbiosis.
Hunter and Coby had much in common.
They were strong, independent, and unafraid to fight for themselves and each other. They both loved hard and liked to be dominated—although one resisted that kink a little more than the other.
But there were differences impossible to ignore and easy to arouse.
Coby liked bows, and pretty ribbons, art, reading, nature, and saving cute little animals from the human race.
Hunter liked guns, knives, fighting, modeling on the side, and surviving. Clearly, something happened in her early life to make her so determined to never be helpless again. She was staring at me now, her upturned eyes already wide with alarm when I hadn’t even delivered the most damaging blow.
“She told me today that she loved me.”
Hunter shook her head in denial, blinking twice over and over and screaming behind the tape as she fought against the bindings again. The shredded skin around her wrists was starting to bruise, and I knew she would gladly hurt herself if I didn’t take control, so I reached for her face and gripped the tape at the corner before ripping it off.
Hunter let out a wail that broke me in fucking two.
I let the inflection in my voice harden until there was no room for disobedience. “Stop.”
Hunter’s next cry died in her throat, and then she turned her face into the pillow to hide her tears. I used gentle fingers to turn her face back toward me and wiped them away.
“Vengeance, look at me. Please.”
Hunter’s eyes opened, and I almost wished she hadn’t listened because I wouldn’t have to face her sorrow. “How could she do this to me?”
“Coby doesn’t know you’re here, Hunter.”
“That’s not what I mean. I—” Feeling the urge to scream again, she squeezed her eyes closed and attempted to compose herself. When they opened again, her brown eyes were pools of pain. “How could she marry you?”
Not knowing what to say, I stalled for time by reaching out to untie her hands before moving down to her feet. Hunter sat up gingerly, rubbing her wrists and eyeing me warily when I climbed onto the bed to sit beside her with my back against the headboard.
“I made Coby an offer she couldn’t refuse,” I finally answered.
“What was that?”
“A fuck ton of money for five years of marriage.” My decision to downplay Coby’s reasons for marrying stemmed from my need to erase that look from Hunter’s eyes. A look that said her heart had just been ripped out of her chest. I didn’t know why I cared about Hunter’s pain when I was getting what I wanted. I just did. Maybe Coby was making me soft. Maybe I was the greedy asshole Abel said I was.
Hunter glared at the bedspread, angry at her own curiosity when she asked, “How much is a fuck ton of money?”
I smirked at her question since it once again showed how protective she was of Coby. I may have begrudged Hunter the very obvious fact that she wanted to fuck my wife, but I couldn’t resent the idea of Coby having someone besides myself so dedicated to her.
“You know,” I said slowly as I chuckled. “We never actually set an amount. I promised her whatever she wanted, but she still hasn’t named a figure.”
Hunter blew out a breath and shook her head. “That’s Coby. Always so trusting. She doesn’t really care about money anyway, so it may not have crossed her mind to care that much.”
“So what do you think?” I asked when Hunter fell quiet. “What is Coby’s hand in marriage worth?”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “There are some things you can’t put a price on, Ocean.”