Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
“You’re The Queen,” I whisper against her lips.
“I’m your queen, Jamie. And every queen needs her king.”
She stole my game. The characters become king and queen of the fantasy world I created. Now it all makes sense. Her reason for calling herself The Queen was right under my nose, and I was too stupid to see it. I’ve been working on a new version of the game she re-coded and passed on to her father.
Ever since Shannon came into my life, I started tweaking the idea I envisioned a long time ago. She was my muse, must have been, because I haven’t written a single line of code since Shannon walked out of my life.
And with Cece in front of me, I realize Shannon’s the one. She’s the one who inspired the new game. She’s the one who truly gets me. That’s why the ideas flowed so well when she was around, why it was so easy to write the code for the game I know my father will love. It could be one of our greatest products, but I need Shannon back to finish it.
Cece’s words slice through me and rage bubbles up inside my chest. I step back, pushing out my hand to keep our distance. “You are nothing to me.”
“Soon we’ll be like family,” she coos. “Your family will merge with mine. It’s time for us to get back together. That’s the most logical thing for us to do. It’ll look good to investors.”
I tilt my head back and laugh. “You’re fucking crazy. I don’t want you anymore, Cece. When you walked away from me, I learned how to live without you. I realized I don’t need you. I don’t want you in my life.”
She steps forward, her nails scraping against my arm. “You need me, Jamie. I know you do. That’s why I made all of this happen. I wanted you to see how much we need each other.”
I shake my head, jaw clenched as I think about everything she’s done. “No, you ruined my relationship with Shannon to make me miserable, to make sure I was alone.”
“I watched you from afar. You weren’t miserable without her, Jamie, so don’t even try to lie to me. The only person you thought about was The Queen, which means you did nothing but think of me. You still love me. I still love you. Everything’s finally falling into place with us. I did this so we could be together.”
I shake her off, moving backward until my shoulder hits the wall behind me. She follows, closing the distance between us. No matter where I move, I can’t escape her. Cece has always known how to hurt me, how to make me suffer. As usual, she’s done a good job.
“What do you have on my dad?”
She smirks at my question. “Oh, nothing. Just a little something I cooked up to help coerce the merger.”
“Whatever you found is a lie, and you know it. My dad isn’t a fraud. He didn’t steal from those games.”
Another smirk stretches across her lips. “Maybe, maybe not. I guess it depends how you look at the code.”
“What did you do?” I lean forward to grip her shoulders, staring into her cold, blue eyes. “You fucking bitch, so help me God—”
She cuts me off before I can finish, her hand outstretched to cover my mouth. “It’s nothing I can’t undo.”
I peel her fingers from my lips. “Then undo it. I’m not fucking working for your dad. Neither is my brother or sister… or my dad.”
“See, I knew this would motivate you to decide.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“You were so set on playing pro hockey, but we both know you’re a gamer. That’s who you really are. Hockey is just a hobby for you.”
“That’s not true,” I snap. “I love hockey. I’m good enough to play in the NHL.”
“But that’s not your true calling. I’m only trying to push you along, help you reach your full potential.”
I sigh in frustration. “What do you really want, Cece?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She rubs her lips together, staring up at me with greed in her eyes. “I want you.”
“Too bad,” I grunt. “We can’t always get what we want.”
Done with this conversation, I exit the room and rush down the stairs. She follows behind, gripping my arm as I attempt to leave.
“Don’t go, Jamie.” Her tone is soft, pleading. “Don’t throw away the last ten years. We belong together. You know it.”
I spin around to face her, my hatred for her burning through me. “You broke up with me, Cece.” Something inside me snaps when all the feelings I’ve tried to suppress flood through my veins, causing my hands to tremble. “I waited for you to change your mind. It’s been three years, three fucking years of waiting for you. And this is how you get my attention? You only came back because I was happy with someone who wasn’t you. Now, I don’t even want you.”