Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 147734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
His shoulders relax, but his breathing is still too choppy, probably because of the pain. So I pass him one of his prescribed painkillers and help him with another glass of water.
This time, he takes the glass from my hand and drinks on his own.
Damn. His little gestures of rejection are slashing me open one cut at a time.
Death by a thousand cuts.
“You saved me?” he asks, watching me peculiarly.
I set the glass on the table. “I can’t do that?”
“You can, just not sure why you would.” He lifts his shoulder in a casual shrug, then coughs and winces.
“What do you mean why I would? Of course I’d save you, Yulian. You think I’d sit back and watch you be beaten to death by your piece-of-shit dad?”
“Yeah, because you were never really all in with me, so I’m surprised you went to these lengths, that’s all.”
My chest stutters. Fuck. He’s still hurt about that last meeting.
Maybe he’s been mad for a while.
“Yulian—”
“I still want to go back and be with Alya and Cy.”
“I said. You’re not going anywhere until you’re better.”
He raises a brow. “Are you kidnapping me right now?”
“Call it whatever you want.”
He releases a breath, then groans and closes his eyes. The fact that he’s in so much pain and I can’t do anything to lessen it makes me believe I’m useless.
I feel like I can’t even touch him for fear that he’ll pull away again. I don’t think I could handle that rejection anymore.
Yulian’s eyes meet mine, and there’s no color there, as if he’s just…given up. “You should let me leave. I’ll only bring disaster to you and your uncles.”
“No.”
“Vaughn…”
“Yulian,” I mimic him, and he just grunts, but I’m not sure if it’s in frustration or pain.
“Dad won’t let me go,” he whispers softly, running a hand over his face, then wincing and dropping it. “He’ll track me down eventually. He might beat me the hell up and drive me to death’s door, but he won’t kill me. He’s spent too much time, money, and energy on making me his heir, and giving up now would only mean he’s admitting defeat, which he never will. So…just let me go back now before you or your family are any further involved.”
“Go back to what? To be nearly killed?” My voice rises slightly. “I’ll never allow that, Yulian, do you hear me? So what if he tracks you down? He’ll never be able to find this place. It’s not on the map, and even if he does, I’ll kill him before he touches you again.”
His lips part as he watches me, unblinking, and then he purses his lips. “If you kill him, you’ll start a war between Chicago and New York. Don’t do that.”
“There will be no war if you become the de facto leader.” I smile. “You’ll be the one to decide everything.”
“They don’t respect me enough to let me lead. And I’m not sure I want that anyway. At least, not at this point.” He watches me silently for a long time. It’s disconcerting.
“What?”
“You said we were temporary and that we wouldn’t last, so why…” He swallows, then blows out a charged breath. “Why go through all the trouble to save me and bring me here?”
“Because I lied.” I take his hand in mine. “To myself as well as to you. Truth is, you were never temporary.”
His hand twitches in mine, and I hold it tighter, scared he’ll pull it away.
“But you put distance between us, Vaughn, doing everything under the sun to keep me at arm’s length. Every time I tried to get closer, you just slipped through my fingers like sand.”
“I was…scared.”
“Scared of what? Being found out? Well, it happened anyway, and I’m still alive.”
“No. I mean, yes, there’s that, too, but mostly, I was scared of the strength of my feelings for you.” I squeeze his hand, holding it in both of mine softly, reverently. “You make me a different person, someone I don’t recognize sometimes.”
“Is that so bad?” The pain in his words cuts me open.
“No, it’s actually the person I want to be. You…make me forget about everything, and I crave that feeling of being free whenever I’m with you.”
“But?”
“There’s no but.”
“Are you sure?” He eyes me suspiciously. “There’s always a but with you, Vaughn.”
I purse my lips, not liking how he keeps calling me by my name. “Not this time.”
“Then another time?”
“Why do you keep trying to find fault in everything I say or do?”
“Because I believed the illusion before, whether four years ago or during recent months, but I still ended up getting hurt.”
“Four years ago?”
He pulls his hand from mine, using my moment of bewilderment to slip free. “You left me to die in that cave, remember?”
“No, I didn’t. I would’ve never done that.” I frown. “Wait. Is that what you think happened?”