Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I have to grind my teeth hard or else risk flinching away when he lets a lock of my hair slide between his fingers. Dear God, how could I ever think he was a friend? “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for so long,” he whispers. “Too long. She wouldn’t let us be together, so I had to find a way.”
“She?” I whisper. It’s not easy to follow along when I’m this lost. Lying in a room that only looks like mine, with a man sitting on the bed who I only thought I knew and trusted.
“Your mama.” A dark look comes over his face and chills my blood. “When she caught me that day, I just wanted to be in your room, that’s all. I wanted to be close to you. She wouldn’t listen to reason. She made it sound disgustin’.”
My stomach turns at the thought of him being in my room while I was away.
Oh my God, is that why she fired him? Why didn’t she tell me? Because she’s so used to keeping secrets. This was just one more.
Only this one has done more damage than any of the others ever could.
“But she couldn’t stop me.” There’s a fire in his eyes that does anything but warm me inside. “None of them could. Because I’ve known for a long time you were meant for me. All I ever wanted is a chance to take care of you and make you happy.”
“But…” Fuck, I can’t think! My head is so heavy, and it hurts so much. I have to think, though. I have to make it all make sense somehow. “Why couldn’t you tell me yourself? So I would know. You always kept it secret.”
“I was just waiting for the right time. And now it’s here. No more havin’ to hide. No more havin’ to watch you getting forced into things you didn’t wanna do.”
It’s all starting to make sense in a sick way. “You mean… the engagement?”
He knew about it. He knew everything, and I just accepted it. Knew about the engagement. He knew about that night in the bar when the fight broke out. He even knew when to find me in town because he was stalking me. How could I have been so blind? That was how we kept running into each other. That was how… That was how…
Oh no. If he could sneak around inside the house tonight…
… when else did he?
“I knew.” His voice sounds far away, almost dreamy. Like he’s here, but he’s not. “I always knew I was here, in this life, because of you. To take care of you, to understand you. But that night, when I followed y’all from the country club, when I took the cellar and came out into the foyer…”
His voice turns hard, but it’s the murderous gleam in his eye that makes me bite back a scream. “That son of a bitch never heard me coming up behind him. He let out a grunt when I used the lamp on him, but that was it.”
He killed Jackson. It wasn’t me. It was Buck all along.
“I was gonna wake you and get you outta there,” he continues. “I figured that was the night for me to bring you here, to the home I put togetha’ for us.”
His voice tightens. His eyes narrow. “But then I heard that bastard Kade Bishop pull up outside.”
Kade. Oh my God, and I blamed him for it. I basically came out and accused him of killing Jackson when it was Buck. Kade honestly believed I was guilty, because who would’ve guessed otherwise?
“You don’t need him,” he croons. “You’re too good for him. I hope you can understand that someday, if you can’t understand it now.”
My skin is crawling. I can’t let him see how sick it makes me when he touches me. What is he planning? My God, how could I ever have trusted him? How did I not see this?
“I figured Kade would be the one they would blame for it,” he explains. “Two birds, one stone. But I forgot those Bishops are like Teflon around here. They can get away with anythin’.” His eyes narrow a little, and a growl touches his voice. It’s like an icy finger stirring my blood. “Well, I’ll have to take care of him, too. But not yet. Not when I finally have you here. After all this time. Besides, might not have to do much with the sheriff thinking he killed those two boys in the woods. I left them just so they could be found and he could be called in.”
Don’t show it. Don’t show it. I can’t let him see how hard I’m fighting not to scream when the backs of his knuckles trace the curve of my jaw. The look on his face sickens me, too. How did I not know? Because he hid it well. And now I have to hide what’s really going on inside if I’m going to get out of this. I have to. And I will.