Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Like Olivia, I was someone to be reformed and recreated into something new. After bouncing from multiple group and foster homes, I’d eventually landed myself in psychiatric care.
More like a torturous prison.
The memories from that time are murky, but I do know that’s where Orion found me. He adopted me and my fixation for Calista, the sister who never existed.
Then who is the girl humming softly as she draws nearby?
My gut twists painfully. I’m overcome with a mixture of grief and utter confusion. Next, anger bleeds through, boiling my blood.
My father—Orion—has crafted a new story for me and it’s one I had no part in creating.
Is Calista really named LuLu? Is that why she had that on her iPad wallpaper? It makes sense now how strange her behavior has been.
She must think I’m completely and utterly insane.
Aren’t you?
I rub at my temple, hoping to ease the headache forming there. Shutting down under the weight of my newly discovered memories isn’t a possibility. Getting LuLu the fuck away from these people is the only option.
When?
How?
I have a car. I have money. I have means.
And somewhere, lurking in the dark recesses of my mind, I have an arsenal of knowledge.
God, I wish I could crack my skull open, pick the important stuff out, and figure out what the hell is going on with my life.
I close my eyes and rub the back of my neck. The tension is making my skin burn as if it’s on fire. I’m pretty sure if I keep clenching my teeth, I’m going to crack a molar or two.
How does a man relax when his mind is unraveling?
I’m spinning, spinning, spinning.
It’s making me sick.
I want off this damn ride.
I’ve got to be smart about this. LuLu may not be my sister, but she’s my responsibility. I got her in this mess, which means I have to get her out of it.
I’m sorry, kid. I messed up. I’m completely and utterly fucked in the head.
With my eyes squeezed shut as I massage the tightness near the back of my skull, I’m hit with a sudden memory.
A massive yacht.
Lots and lots of snow.
Romy. Stunning, sassy, sexy.
I have her pushed against a wall, fingers inside her, drawing pleasure from her while people are a few feet away, barely out of sight.
My chest aches fiercely. I miss her. It’s like my heart is cursing at my brain right now for being able to forget a woman like her. The pain’s been sitting in my ribcage all along, but my mind is just getting the memo.
I want to linger in the sweetness of her breathy moans. Memories have other plans, especially bad ones.
There’s a man on top of her—my deceased brother, Gareth—and she’s begging him to stop. I see red. I want to kill him. I do kill him. And after I’ve ripped him away from her and broken his neck, I deposit him over the side of the yacht without regret.
Because of her.
Romy.
My love.
Another memory teases my mind and I see glimpses of LuLu. On the rug as someone rapes her. I watch. I sat there and watched because I didn’t want to jeopardize my chances of finding my sister. The irony isn’t lost on me that she’d one day be placed in my care as the sister I never truly had but was made to believe. Fury infects every cell in my body and a pained roar explodes out of me.
I’ve fucked up so badly. People have gotten hurt because of me.
I’ll kill whoever hurt LuLu just like I killed my own brother for hurting Romy.
A hand on my shoulder snaps me out of the awful memories. I turn to see LuLu staring down at me, eyebrows pinched in concern. I’m unable to meet her gaze. Guilt is death by a thousand cuts, each one deeper than the last.
How do I apologize for my complicity?
That’s what it was.
No wonder she hates me.
She remembers that I sat and did nothing while a man physically and mentally destroyed her.
You provided the drugs, man.
Another slash of guilt, this time across my throat, makes it hard for me to breathe. I claw at my neck, gasping for air. What’s happening?
You’re dying.
You deserve it.
“Caius.” Small hands cup my wet cheeks and LuLu bores her dark stare into mine. “It’s okay.”
She’s never spoken my name before. Not once. Never.
I understand now.
I’m a monster.
A captor.
Evil.
A choked sob rattles out of my chest. The floodgates are open and it’s gushing out. How do I stop the cataclysmic onslaught of the vicious memories of a guilty conscience?
I deserve to die right here.
Smack!
My cheek stings, but LuLu’s slap is effective in jarring me out of the panic attack that was unfolding. I blink at her, conveying a thousand apologies in just one look
“LuLu,” I whisper, voice raspy and brittle. “I remember now.”