Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“You don’t have to lecture me like a spoiled kid,” I frown. “I was just asking if maybe we could have a little more normality so I don’t go fucking insane. Sorry for asking!”
“Less of the attitude,” Leo says. “Or I will have Luke thrash you for me.”
I know the threat is genuine, so I don’t push it. I am already the only entertainment in a confined space with two men who are lustful as hell. If I get them started whipping me, god knows when that will end. The thought is somewhat delicious, but I can’t give into it because I want to stay out. I want to have access to freedom and to the world. Being locked away is an awful thing.
So I fall silent, and I hope that pretending to be good is the same as actually being good. It may as well be.
I wait for us to get to the hospital, and when we are there I take the cash Luke gives me, three hundred bucks, which doesn’t go nearly as far as they probably imagine it does with women’s clothing, but never mind, because I have another plan anyway.
“Don’t spend it all at once,” he grins. “Stick to the shops around here, too, okay?”
“I don’t know that we should let her go on her own,” Leo says. “Maybe we should wait until after the appointment, then all go together.”
“Do you want to stand around racks of panties? Because I don’t,” Luke says. Very unenlightened attitude from him really, but it works in my favor, because frankly I don’t want the two of them standing around while I try to pick out underwear and clothes either.
“I might need a little more money,” I say. “Bras are like eighty dollars each.”
“Eighty…” Luke’s eyes widen. “Are they diamond bras?”
“Brother, we are worth billions. Give her more than a pittance,” Leo says.
I don’t think Luke has ever done much in the way of shopping. He seems like the most grounded of all of them, but he cannot help being out of touch.
Luke sighs and digs into his pocket, pulling out more cash. “Is this enough?”
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m sorry to have to ask.”
He frowns. “No. You shouldn’t… no, don’t be ashamed to ask. It’s your money as much as it is ours anyway at this point. Go, have fun. Buy whatever you want. Meet us back here in two hours.”
“It’s going to be two hours?”
“They’re doing a scan under light sedation, then there will be a wait to see the doctor. It might be three hours,” he says. “Just don’t get lost.”
“I can take care of myself,” I grin. “I hope your wound is okay, Leo.”
Leo gives me a little wave. I don’t think he is looking forward to the sedation and such. He likes being in control too much and oh, that’s right, the time I drugged him and left him probably didn’t help. I feel a small pang of guilt, but I remind myself that was a different time. A more innocent time, in a lot of ways.
I step out of the hospital by myself and I feel a rush of freedom that I have not experienced in, well, I’d say a long time, but running around the world with their money was also pretty freeing. That also feels like a lifetime ago now. Time moves differently around these men. I’d say it flies when you’re having fun, but so much of this has been filled with grief and misery and pain… and then the most incredible highs and emotional moments of pure joy.
A lady comes past, walking a pit bull on a leash. The dog’s big jaws are parted in a broad grin, and in that moment I miss Ethel more than I have ever missed anyone. She should have been taken with us. She should have been protected too.
I am so emotional right now. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Maybe it’s all just catching up. Living in the bunker has been like being stuck in a sexy pressure cooker. Aiden going away is like a release valve. Everyone is doing things and feeling things they didn’t when he was there.
It sounds like he’s a monster, and that’s because he is, I think. Aiden has a way of occupying every space he is in completely, of turning the people around him into satellites of his influence. He might be the most naturally charismatic man I’ve ever met. In his absence, I find parts of myself that were either soothed into silence, or just straight up suppressed by his presence.
Probably a red flag, but in our world, what fucking isn’t. My life is a parade of red flags, and the one guy who wasn’t got shot. So here we are, all struggling to survive while having everything people think they want. I have a pocket full of cash, three hot boyfriends, and the world at my feet. But right now, all I want is my little dog.