Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“I know how to do it,” she repeats, her expression grim but determined. “Shane’s a tough guy. He knows how to handle himself. But he’s got one glaring weakness.”
Liam laughs. He throws back his head and howls. He grins at me, wiping one eye. “What a fucked-up family!” he cackles, and I can’t help but grin too. The bastard’s got a point.
Caroline doesn’t think it’s funny.
We stay for the next fight. She watches the brutality with an impassive stare like she’s already very far away. Liam and I speak about logistics and Caroline offers suggestions, and by the time one of the fighters chokes his opponent to death, we have a pretty good plan. The crowd screams with bloodlust as the referee drags the lifeless corpse from the ring.
I hold Caroline’s hand as we leave the warehouse an hour later. Liam says goodnight and disappears into the evening. He’ll start the preparations over the next few days. I pull Caroline close as we head back toward where I parked my BMW a few blocks over.
“When I brought you into this, I didn’t think you’d get so involved. You don’t have to do this.”
She stares straight ahead, arms crossed over her chest. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“What did they do to you, baby?”
She flinches slightly and turns, hands suddenly shoving against my chest. I step backwards, off-balance, and my back runs up against a tree. She gets in my chest, up on her toes, grabbing at my wrists. “You wanna see?” she hisses, eyes wild with anger and fright. “You want me to show you?” She guides my hands to her throat. She shoves them against her neck like she’s trying to make me choke her. “Go ahead, squeeze hard, and don’t stop until my lips are blue. It’s a fun game. The first person to make me pass out wins. But be careful, if you kill me, Mom might be sad.”
My heart races as she holds me like that, teeth gritted. Her mask is gone now too. The wildness is there, the hate and the terror burning in her like hellfire. I caught a glimpse of it, but now she’s throwing it all aside, tearing apart the polite facade she usually wears.
I grip her neck. Just like she wants. “Harder?” I whisper.
She gasps. Her eyes widen. I doubt she thought I’d do it. “Harder.”
I turn until she’s the one pinned to the tree. I tighten my grip. I’m not cutting off her air, but she feels me now. I get close, my mouth inches away. “How hard do you want, baby? You want me to keep on squeezing until you don’t have to deal with this anymore?”
“Go ahead. Keep going.”
I force her chin up. I stare into her eyes. “Beg.”
Her jaw tightens. “Please.”
I crush her mouth with my lips. I kiss her hard, brutally, violently. She whimpers, gasping, hands clawing at my face. Her nails rake down my cheek. I kiss her, bite her lower lip, and release her throat. She pulls at me, trying to yank me back, but I push her away.
“I’m not playing that game.” I grip her hair. I pull it tight and kiss her again, hard enough to bruise her pink lips. She’s breathing fast. “I don’t break my toys.”
“I knew you wouldn’t.” She stares at me, still daring me to cross the line. There’s too much fucked up between us. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted in my life. Every ounce of my blood burns to take her and fuck her into mewling submission.
Instead, I let her go. “Focus on the plan, baby.”
I walk away. I’ve never hated myself more. I wish I could turn back and fuck her right here on the sidewalk. Instead, I don’t let myself forget. We’re both drowning, and we’ll just drag each other under if we don’t swim.
13
CAROLINE
Iavoid Finn for the next couple days. It’s easy, since he’s barely at the apartment. After the way I threw myself at him, I can’t really bring myself to look him in the eye, much less to talk to him again.
He knows how fucked up I am now.
Maybe he knew before. I mean, I must be pretty broken if I’m willing to go along with his plan to kill my brothers. What kind of sick, evil human would willingly murder their own sibling?
I watch a team of cleaners drain the pool upstairs. They pick the glass out from the tile meticulously. When they’re done, they leave the pool empty. It’s just one giant hole in the floor, a gap staring up at the night sky. I climb down and lie on my back in the deep end and gaze at the stars. I feel like I’m hurtling deeper and deeper into something dark and terrifying, and I’m afraid most of all that there’s no landing, that I’ll be tumbling forever.