Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
My eye twitches.
Now I fucking get why he’s talking to me.
“You’re a lethal weapon, Apollo. And any family would be foolish not to want that for themselves.”
“I’m not going to be fucking used for a fight that isn’t mine.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna be able to choose with the way things are going. After all, Ares and Kai are brothers, and family will protect family.”
“You actually think the Carusos are gonna start something with the Torres family?”
“I don’t think so,” he says, stopping the bike. “I know so.”
My coolness disappears immediately. “Tell me.”
He raises his brows and looks around like he can’t say it out loud in front of these people. I hop off my bike and grasp him, dragging him off too.
“Hey! Let me go!”
I haul him into the locker room and slam the door shut. “Spill it.”
“All right, okay. As long as you don’t tell anyone you heard it from me.” He swallows. “Silas has been planning to abduct Levi.”
I snort. “He’s attacked him before. It didn’t work.”
“That’s not it. He’s going to do it when Levi’s alone.”
“Why? Why not just kill him? Why would he abduct him?” I ask, my fist balling. “He wants to torture him?”
“Yes, but he’s also trying to lure out Kai and Lana.”
My eyes widen. “He wants them to fight the Carusos. Start a war to avenge his sister and erase the Torres family.”
“Like I said, you didn’t hear it from me.”
I grab him by the collar and slam him against the door. “When?”
“Tonight.”
CHAPTER 60
Grey
I have never experienced a more awkward dinner than this one right here.
She has not just one but three “dads.” Technically, they’re not her dad, but they sure as hell treat her like their own. Alistair, Dylan, and Felix are all seated at the table, one more menacing than the other as they stare me down like they’re deciding which one of them gets to tear me apart like a goddamn turkey needing to be sliced open for dinner.
I pick up my glass of iced water and take a big gulp.
“So … Grey …” Dylan says, tossing a lighter in the air. “Aspen told me you two go to the same university.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Though, that’s not where we met.”
“Oh really? Where then, if I may ask?”
“The cemetery,” Aspen fills in for me. “I was crying over Mavis, if you must know.”
“I’m glad you paid your sister a visit,” Alistair says. “Did you give her some fresh flowers?”
Aspen nods.
“She visits often,” I say.
“With you?” Dylan asks.
Aspen nods. “Grey … lost his parents, so he understands grief.” She looks at me and smiles as she grabs my hand.
“My condolences,” Alistair says.
“It’s okay,” I say. “It was a long time ago.”
“So how did you afford to go to Spine Ridge then?” Dylan asks. “I mean, it’s not exactly a cheap university.”
Why does this feel like an interrogation?
“My uncle raised me,” I reply. “He’s sort of rich. Gone a lot, too.”
“That doesn’t sound nice,” Alistair says.
“It wasn’t. But at least I had a safe home,” I say.
“It’s safe here,” Felix growls.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sir, I wasn’t implying that it wasn’t,” I say, as I put down my glass.
“Good,” he adds.
“He was, though,” Silas says, narrowing his eyes at me.
God, the room’s temperature just fell ten degrees when he opened his mouth. Can’t believe Felix is Mavis’s dad. She always looked so cheery whenever I saw her hanging out with Aspen on campus. And he’s just … death incarnate.
I clear my throat and ignore Silas, focusing on Dylan instead because I have to win him over first. “I feel very lucky to have found your daughter,” I say, smiling at them all. “And I’m grateful that she allows me to be in her life.”
Aspen smiles back at me, solidifying our togetherness in front of her family. Because I do get the feeling this whole dinner is just a dress-up for the main show, which is judging me.
“Well, I’m glad she found someone she can relate to,” Alistair says, trying to break the ice. “It’s nice to see Aspen happy.”
“Thanks,” she says.
Her phone is buzzing, but she ignores it.
“I’m just glad that fucker is out of the picture,” Dylan says as he keeps flicking that lighter up and down.
I nearly choke on my own saliva and cough, while Aspen squeezes my hand hard.
“Who?” her mom, Penelope, asks as she comes in with a giant pan.
“Don’t,” Felix growls at her dad when he opens his mouth.
“Don’t what?” her mom says as she puts down the pan on the table. “I made y’all some chili tonight. Do you like chili?” she asks.
“Chili is always nice,” I reply, trying to keep things civil.
“Oh God,” Xavier mutters as he peers into the pot.
“What?!” her mom squawks, and everyone leans back in their seats. “I made this with love. You eat it with love. The end.”