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)
“You don’t have to worry,” I state, and that’s what it is. A decision. “That’s over. I know where I need to be.”
“Thank fuck,” he mutters. I chuckle, and we spend the rest of the drive in silence punctuated by the truck’s engine. When we reach the gates of the Porter ranch—security waves me through now without checking—he says, “I’ll wait out here. Tell Allie I said hello.”
I remember running in here the night of the gala. The way Allie screamed. I remember the nights I crept around in the dark, memorizing the layout. Now I walk in like I belong here. It’s not something I’m used to, belonging anywhere.
I hear them upstairs, giggling, and the sound is a relief. She’s been understandably quiet and withdrawn since she came home yesterday after getting checked out. Of course Saint would pull her out of it.
I almost feel sorry for interrupting, tapping on the door before sticking my head in the room. Emma sits on the foot of the bed, with Saint stretched out next to Allie. All three of them smile at me, with Emma standing up. “Is everything going well?” She says it so casually, as if she has no idea what we were planning to do today. We both know that’s not true.
“As planned.”
She breathes out her relief.
I look at Saint next. “Your husband’s outside. He figured he would drive back with you.” I’m not trying to kick her out, but I would like alone time with Allie.
“I’ll call you later,” she promises, giving Allie a squeeze before climbing out of bed and sliding into a pair of shoes. The look she gives me is filled with meaning, maybe gratitude, before she and Emma leave us alone.
Allie sits up in bed with a smile. The sunshine streaming through the windows turns her hair to fire and makes her eyes sparkle like emeralds. “She doesn’t seem to mind us being alone together like this.”
Yeah, funny how certain situations put everything else in a clearer light, the way all the vile shit we flung at each other before her abduction blew away like smoke the second I found out she was missing. “We talked about a lot of things at the hospital. I think she finally figured out that I care about you as more than a sister.”
I reach down to unlace my work boots and then pull them off before climbing into bed. She moves over, giving me room, and then molds herself to me once I’ve settled in. Wrapping my arms around her loosens any lingering tension I was holding on to. She makes everything feel right.
Her lips brush my neck when she murmurs, “Do I even want to know the details of your meeting?”
“Maybe one day, I’ll tell you if you ask. But for now…” I press a kiss against the top of her head, knowing I’m the luckiest son of a bitch who ever drew breath. We took the long way, but we finally found each other. “Let’s just be here.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Good. There’s something else I hope you’ll like the sound of, too.”
The thin scratches left behind by her run through the woods tear at my soul when she looks up at me. There are marks on her forehead and her cheeks, but they will fade like the bruises around her neck did. They don’t destroy her perfection, either. If anything, they highlight her beauty. Her strength and resiliency. “What is it?”
“How would you feel about the Bishops owning 49 percent of this ranch?”
She pushes herself up on one hand, staring at me with her mouth open. Before she can get the wrong idea, I explain, “You need the money. We have it. It would mean Emma retaining majority ownership, but I would come on as a manager. We’re not trying to take over. We’re only trying to merge, in a way.”
Her mouth works silently for a while, and I wait for her to process. “When did you come up with this?” she asks, breathless.
“Maybe a few hours after you told me about the problems around here,” I admit with a laugh. “It was only a vague idea. I took it to my brothers, I took it to Emma. This way, you keep the ranch, everyone keeps their jobs, and nobody is selling you off in marriage to anyone, for any reason.”
It only hits me now that she might not be as happy about this as Emma was when I first made the suggestion. She might not see it like her mom does, as a gift.
“I don’t want you to worry,” I add. “This doesn’t mean you’re under our thumb. Roman’s way of doing business is in the past. We’re moving forward into the future.”
She touches a finger to my lips while hers curve into a smile. “All I can do is wonder how many more ways you can think of to rescue me.”