Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“How did you come to care about a non-blood-related person this much?”
“Vi is my world. You don’t need blood to care. If anything, some blood relations are like a curse.”
“Touché.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine. You wanted to know something about me? My father considers me a machine instead of a son.” The words carry in the silence, loud and heavy. “I’m not allowed to lose, mess up, or humiliate the Davenport name. If I do, he’ll make sure I remember it, preferably with a physical or psychological scar.”
Dahlia shifts until her face is close to mine. “Can’t you cut off your relationship with him?”
“No.”
“Why? Are power and money more important than your well-being?”
“It’s not about power and money. What I have in mind is more valuable.”
She palms my cheek. “There’s nothing more valuable than yourself, Kane. Why can’t you see that?”
I take her hand and slowly lower it. Partly because I’m not entirely used to her touch and it’s burning my skin.
“I have it under control.”
She makes a face. “I hate that word. I also hate that you’re so closed off sometimes.”
“You hate so many things about me and yet you still want a relationship with me?”
“I know, right? I’m thinking about changing my mind.”
“Too late. You’re not going anywhere.” I lift her chin and kiss her. Slowly. I take my time, not feeling the imminent urge to fuck her just because I’m touching her.
I’m only staking a claim.
Proving that this girl is mine.
To answer Uncle’s question, she’s, without any shadow of a doubt, worth it.
Even if it destroys me.
28
DAHLIA
“Honey?”
“Wake up. It’s time to go, Dahl.”
Mom…?
Vi?
They’re both standing in a blindingly white distance, their shadows spilling on the ground, but not touching my feet.
Blood gushes from Mom’s forehead, slides down her arm, and slithers onto her hand that’s holding Vi’s.
My dad appears on Vi’s right and takes her other hand in his disfigured, bloodied one.
I step forward, but I’m jolted in place by invisible chains, unable to move.
They walk in the distance, their tall, distorted shadows retreating until I can only see their backs and the blood trails left behind.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
“Where are you going?” I scream, tears cascading down my cheeks. “Come back. Don’t leave me alone. You promised, Vi!”
They come to a halt and Vi looks back, her face pale, eyes sunk in, her hair having lost its shine. She looks like a ghost of herself with crimson blood dripping from her delicate fingers.
A version of Vi I don’t recognize.
Broken-down.
Decimated.
“Goodbye, Dahlia.”
“No…no…”
“Wake up now, Dahl.”
“Vi, no, don’t go.”
“It’s okay. You’ll be okay.”
“Nooo!”
“Dahlia!”
“Dahlia.”
“Dahlia, wake up!”
My eyes fly open, my breath coming in ragged gasps as hot tears cling to my lashes.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. It was just a nightmare.”
I look up as Kane sits in bed, gliding my damp hair back, his fingers stroking my face gently.
He reaches to the bedside table and offers me a bottle of water.
I sit up and gulp most of it while still panting. Images of Vi leaving with my parents play so vividly in my head, a taste of nausea crawls up my throat and I feel like throwing up.
“You feel better?” Kane’s deep voice sounds soothing. Consoling, even.
Which is a rare version of him.
He takes the water from my fingers and watches me closely as if he can peek into my brain.
I wrap my arms around my knees and rock back and forth. “I had a nightmare that Vi went with my parents. That she…she died and left me all alone. She said I’d be okay. She said her goodbyes.”
“That was only a nightmare.”
“What if it becomes real?” Back. Forth. “I…I’m barely over my parents’ deaths and only because I have Vi. If she…if she…leaves as well, I don’t know how I’ll go on.”
A big hand wraps around mine and gently pulls it, stopping the rocking. I stare at Kane and his handsome, composed face calms my breathing.
There’s a firm yet soothing authoritativeness in his expression, like I can fall and he’ll catch me. No questions asked.
“Violet is still alive, but most importantly, you are alive, too. Besides, you’re not all alone. You have me.” His mouth twitches in a small smile. “Didn’t you promise to annoy the hell out of me? Let’s see whether or not you succeed.”
My lips part.
A warm feeling I’ve never experienced spreads inside me like a hug.
You have me.
Kane said I have him.
God. Who would’ve thought the guy I approached to avenge my sister would be the one consoling me about her?
A part of me feels guilty for ever using him. For lumping him in with the rest of the unfeeling psychos.
Kane is different.
Entirely different.
He’s not the green flag I mistook him for, but he’s not entirely red either. He’s a mixture of colors, and I’m growing attached to all of them.
The red, the green, the black. All.
I open my arms and engulf him in a hug, burying my face in his chest, right on top of his steady heartbeat.