Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Trust you?” Jasper sits up and bites out in a lowered voice, “You killed her family. We thought she was next on the list.”
That comes as a surprise. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, Dante.” She heaps on the sarcasm. “Maybe because you took everything that belonged to her family the minute they were dead. You were running her father’s territory before his body was cold. It sends a clear message, don’t you think?”
“What went down wasn’t about the territory or the money.”
“Yeah, Tatiana told me. You had a vendetta. But you must realize how it looked from her point of view.”
“She shouldn’t have run from me. Killing her was never my intention.”
She huffs. “Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but you were never honest with her about your intentions. Did you expect her to simply sit there like an obedient little girlfriend and wait to see what was going to happen?”
“She should’ve given me a chance to explain.”
“Jeez, Dante.” She gives me a duh look. “How did you think that was going to go? You’d tell her you killed her father and mother out of revenge, and she’d simply forgive you and the two of you would’ve moved on and lived happily ever after?”
“It would’ve taken time. I never deluded myself about that.”
Her smile is pitiful. “If that’s what you think, you’re either stupidly optimistic or genuinely clueless.”
I tap into my infinite patience. I don’t have to explain myself to Jasper, but she’s Tatiana’s best friend. The two of them obviously talk, and it will help if Jasper knows both sides of the story. Maybe she can make Tatiana see reason.
I straighten my tie. “I did what I had to do. Eventually, Tatiana would’ve understood even if she couldn’t forgive me. But I would’ve been able to take care of her and Noah, and she wouldn’t have gone through everything she did alone.” The thought that something could’ve gone wrong at Noah’s birth—that I could’ve lost either or both of them—and that she or my son were cold or had gone hungry fills me with such violence that I shut those notions down before they drive me to do something I’ll regret, something such as punishing Tatiana for putting her and my baby’s life in danger. “She kept the existence of my own child from me, and she was never going to tell me.” The knowledge only provokes regret and anger. “That was wrong.”
“You can’t hold the fact that she ran against her.”
I don’t and I do. I understand why she did it, but I wish she hadn’t.
The set of Jasper’s features is obstinate. “She didn’t have a choice. She was alone and vulnerable.”
Like hell she didn’t have a choice. “She could’ve stayed. Leander would’ve protected her.”
“Oh, come on.” Jasper lifts her eyes to the ceiling. “We both know Leander can’t protect his own ass.”
I remain quiet because that’s true.
“She knew what you’d done.” Jasper holds my gaze. “She knew you were behind the attack.”
I return her accusing glare with a stony look.
“It wasn’t difficult to figure out.” Her smile is loathful. “You were the only one who knew the route her father was going to take that night. You knew because Tatiana told you.” She pauses to let that sink in. “She knew it was you, Dante.”
“I never said I wasn’t going to tell her.”
“No, you just wanted to use her first before coming clean.” She looks me up and down. “All that time, she thought you were keeping your relationship a secret because she was promised to Joni Stein.”
Just the mention of that name makes me clench my hand into a fist beneath the table. The only reason that motherfucker is still alive is because he hasn’t spent a penny in trying to find his missing fiancée, and he’s never laid a finger on her. If he had—touched her, that is—I would’ve chopped off his hands before killing him. If he comes anywhere near her, I’ll still off him.
Jasper intertwines her fingers on the table and leans closer. “I bet the real reason you didn’t want anyone to know you were seeing Tatiana was because you couldn’t risk her father finding out.” Her mouth twists. “With your vendetta, he would’ve seen right through your plan.”
“Your point is?”
Observing me as if I’m a lost case, she shakes her head. “The saddest part is that she protected you right to the end.”
I narrow my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what?” She scoffs. “Never mind. You don’t deserve her. You never did, and you never will.”
Mimicking her pose, I rest my elbows on the table and get into her face. “Tatiana and Noah are going home with me. So are you.” My words are soft but loaded. Deadly. “Nothing you say is going to change that, so save your breath for arguments that actually matter.”