Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
I crank my fist back, plowing it into his jaw. His head snaps back, and he stumbles before regaining his balance. “Get the fuck off my property, Peters. I’m not fucking around with you.”
He roars a curse and charges at me, knocking me onto my ass in the foyer. He goes down with me, landing half on top of me.
“Stay away from my sister,” he snarls, taking a wild swing at me.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I snap, bucking him off before elbowing him in the ribcage. I jump to my feet, spinning to face him. “You’ve already taken enough from me. You aren’t taking her again, too.”
“She’s my sister!” he shouts, swinging at me again.
I dodge it, refusing to do this shit with him now. I’ve been down that road. I know where it leads and what it costs. I won’t lose everything because of him again. “Then respect her decision, you fucking prick.”
He charges at me again, bellowing like an enraged bull.
“Stop it, Jamison!” Sutton screams from behind him, her voice shrill. “Just stop it!”
She’s here. She came back.
I barely have time to wrap my head around that before her brother comes at me again. He has no interest in hearing what she has to say right now. He’s too fucking busy blaming me for his failures. Again.
He swings at me again, and I shove him away. He damn near collides with Sutton, which has my blood boiling.
“I swear to God, if she gets hurt because you won’t settle down, I will kill you,” I growl, shoving him up against the wall with my arm across his throat. He tries to fight me off, but I have something to fight for. He’s already fucked up everything he had. He’s no match for me. Just like he wasn’t back then.
Sutton stomps across the foyer like a pissed off, avenging angel, all curves and fury. Her eyes blaze as she steps up beside me, quivering with rage.
“You asshole!” she cries, jabbing her brother in the stomach with her finger. “Why are you here?” She smells the alcohol on his breath and practically chokes on her tongue. “Are you drunk right now?”
“Easy, princess,” I murmur, but she’s just as pissed as he is. More, maybe. She doesn’t want to be calmed down or mollified. She wants to kick his ass. Part of me wants to let her. Christ, she’s sexy as hell right now, wearing one of my t-shirts tied up around her waist and a tiny pair of shorts, rage crackling around her. But I won’t let her be hurt.
Once upon a time, I never would have believed Jamison could hurt her. But he proved me wrong. Over and over again. Some wounds hurt more than physical blows. Some damage heals a helluva lot slower than bruises. And some doesn’t heal at all. It just scabs over, breaking and bleeding again and again.
That’s what he did to her. Hell, it’s what he did to me, too. It’d be so easy to keep hating him for it. It’s what he deserves. But…it’s not what either of us deserves. We did our time in hell. We paid for our misplaced trust and kept secrets. I don’t want to keep paying for the rest of my life. I don’t want those wounds to keep festering and bleeding. And I damn sure don’t want it for her, either.
“He’s only with you to piss me off, Sutton,” Jamison growls at her. “Why can’t you see that?”
“Because it’s bullshit.” I release him with a growl and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her out of the way just in case he decides he isn’t done trying to fight yet. “I’m in love with her, the same way I’ve always been in love with her.”
“Right,” he snorts.
I shake my head at him, irritated. “Christ, man. You were so wrapped up in your own little delusions that you didn’t see what was right in front of your face. And I tried like hell to keep my distance back then because I knew she was too fucking young for me. I tried to ignore the way I felt out of respect for you and our friendship, but you killed that friendship the minute you did what you did. I don’t owe you a fucking thing anymore, certainly not a justification for why I’m with your sister.”
“Neither do I,” Sutton says, leaning into me. “You’ve done enough damage, Jamison. I don’t know how I’m ever supposed to forgive you for it.”
For the first time, he actually looks nervous. Afraid, even. “He told you.”
“Yeah, I told her,” I say, willing to own my shit even if he can’t.
“Because you hate me,” he says as if I’m just proving him right.
“No, because I’m fucking done hating you,” I say. “I spent years hating you, but I’m just fucking done with it now. I don’t give a shit about you. I stopped giving a shit the minute I realized who you really are. I care about her. She matters to me.”