Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“You . . . you believe I wouldn’t betray you? Without even asking me?”
He frowned. “Of course I know that.” Understanding filled him. “I was an idiot before. I promised you never again, remember?”
Tears dripped down her face so he walked over to wrap his hand around the back of her neck. He kissed her forehead. She was still holding Hope. Neither of them needed to be here for this.
“Why don’t you take Hope into your room,” he said to her.
“No, no, I want to stay. I just . . . I love you, Quaid.”
“Love you too, baby girl.”
“This is all so fucking sickening,” Alaistair snarled. “How can you believe her over me?”
“Because we love her,” Slade said. “And with love comes trust. We know her. Last time, we made an error in judgment that nearly cost us everything. We won’t make that mistake ever again. Indie would never betray us. You, on the other hand, have been a problem for a while. But why, Alaistair? I thought we were friends. How did you get involved with those guys? Why did you do this to us?”
“Because you always have everything!” Alaistair roared. “The respect of everyone. All of the subs want you. I was always second best. Even at university. That time I came home during the holidays with you, I saw her. I knew she was meant to be mine but she barely knew I was alive.”
Quaid gave him a confused look. “Indie? You’re saying you wanted Indie back then? Slade’s stepsister?”
“It’s sick that he’s with her,” Alaistair spat. “It’s unnatural!”
“And that gave you the right to do this?” Slade snarled. “Grow up, motherfucker. You aren’t owed the world. None of us owed you anything.”
“I don’t even remember that,” Indie said quietly, turning to look at Alaistair. “I don’t even remember you.”
Alaistair snarled at her. “I know. The four of you got everything, including her. Roger is a good friend of mine. He and I were in business together and now that’s all tanked thanks to you assholes. I had to live in my car these last two weeks while hiding from Shepherd! Cleaning myself in public bathrooms! Do you know how humiliating that is?”
“You told Roger where the girls were going for lunch that day,” Slade said slowly. “You were in my home office when Indie was leaving. You asked her where she was going. Why the fuck didn’t I think of that? It’s your fault that Roger was there.”
Alaistair smiled. “Yep. And you know who else I was friends with? Billy.”
“You were?” Indie asked. “He never mentioned you.”
“Oh, I went to your apartment a few times when you weren’t there. Had lots of fun with your underwear. Jerked off with your panties around my dick so many times.”
“Oh my God, I’m gonna be ill,” she said.
Fuck this asshole. That was disgusting. Spencer wrapped his arm around Indie.
“Billy and I were going to ruin you all. He fucking hated the hold you all had on her.”
“Wait,” Indie said slowly. “I thought your voice sounded familiar and I put it down to the fact that you said we’d met years ago. But . . . no, that’s not it. Is it? Shit. I thought I’d dreamed that someone else was there that day Billy stole information from Slade’s safe . . . but it was you.”
“It was me,” he said proudly. “Billy was going to share you with me, you know.”
“Oh God. No,” she said.
“Yes. He promised me if I helped destroy your relationship with these assholes that you’d be ours. He hated all of you as much as I did. Everything always came so easy to you. And you idiots thought it was about the bid. Sure, that was a bonus. A means for Billy to buy his way into a partnership. But that was never what drove him. It was separating her from you. He wanted to turn you all against her. To punish her for wanting you and not us. He was simply waiting for his opportunity. When he learned that your parents were divorcing, he figured you might make a move on Indie. Turned out, he was right. He called me as he followed her here that day. When I arrived, she was already drugged and unconscious.”
“You fucking asshole,” Quaid snarled.
Alaistair shot him a nervous look before his gaze went back to Indie. His obsession with her was clear. “I could have gotten access to this place and the safe on my own. But Billy wanted to frame you, Indie. To make it look like you’d stolen the information. He had a tracker on your phone, but I also set it up so all of your messages came to his phone first. Then he could block them from reaching your phone.”
“He told me that,” she said. “I had no idea how he did it, though.”