Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 114951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“And then… there’s Georgie.”
My stomach dropped along with her shoulders when she said his name. She told me what I suspected, that everything her brother depended on had been folded neatly into Nathan’s influence — his tuition, housing, stability. He’d never threatened her outright with any of it, but he didn’t need to. He simply reminded her what was at stake and let the fear do the work for him.
“That part hurts the worst,” she admitted softly. “Because for so long, I took care of Georgie. But then I trusted Nathan when he said he wanted to take care of both of us. I fell into the trap because I was so desperate for the release — to be free of the stress, the worry, the pressure.”
That had cracked my heart like flimsy, dry clay.
Because I knew she was desperate for that because I’d left her wanting.
Affection, she went on, had become conditional. Nathan gave it to her when she complied, withheld it when she didn’t, and sharpened it when she resisted. He made her feel smaller without ever raising his voice, made her doubt instincts she’d once trusted without question.
I listened as it all came together, each piece slotting into place until there was no denying the shape of it. Nathan had worked his way into every corner of her life so subtly that she hadn’t realized she was losing ground until there was nowhere left to stand. He’d charmed her first, then slowly eroded everything that made her glow, leaving behind a subdued version of the woman he’d met. Every choice she made, every movement she allowed herself, had been orchestrated until he held the strings, and she was left believing it was her fault.
“He’s never hit me,” she admitted softly, like that somehow acquitted him, like because he wasn’t the same kind of piece of shit as her stepdad, he somehow still had merit. “But… before the dinner party, he grabbed me. My wrist. Hard. He was angry, and I tried to pull away, and he—” Her breath hitched. “He wanted to hurt me. Just enough to make a point.”
By the time she admitted she was terrified to leave, her voice was barely there. It trembled as she told me how she was scared of what he’d do, worried of what she’d lose, and ashamed that she’d let it happen, that it’d grown to this point.
My grip tightened around her hand. I hoped it anchored her and I needed it to anchor me, because now that I could see it clearly, I understood just how deep it went.
And there was no universe in which I was letting her face it alone.
“I don’t know who I am anymore, Shane,” she whispered, her eyes welling, lips rolling together as she shook her head. “I… I can’t believe I’ve let it get here. I watched this happen to my own mother.” She finally looked at me. “How did I not see it happening to myself?”
I swallowed, pulling her into me even as she shook her head like she didn’t deserve the embrace. That only made me wrap her up tighter, and I sighed, kissing her hair before I rested my chin on the crown of her head and closed my eyes.
I needed a moment to steady myself. Everything inside me wanted to be desperately idiotic. I imagined myself flying to wherever the fuck he was right now and ending him. I’d do it with my bare hands. I’d watch the light leak out of his eyes and enjoy every fucking second of it.
I let that ravenous side of me exist for a moment, let myself feel that rage, and then I tucked it away. Rationality took over and I reminded myself that I had a better way to end him — one that wouldn’t cost me Ariana in the process.
“You are not to blame for this. Okay?” I tilted her chin with my knuckle, eyes fixed on hers. “I know you hate hearing this word, but you are a victim. He hurt you, but that’s going to stop. You’re going to take back power.”
“How?”
“I’m going to help.” I swallowed, realizing it was now or never. What I was about to say would either make sense or it wouldn’t. I either knew what I was talking about, or I was grossly misunderstanding and didn’t have a single leg to stand on. “I think Nathan is involved in something illegal,” I dared to utter. “Something involving gambling and manipulating the integrity of the game.”
The words sat between us for a beat, heavy and dangerous. Even as I’d said them aloud, doubt crept in at the edges of my certainty, whispering that I might be reaching, that I’d let my feelings cloud my judgment.
“I don’t want to scare you,” I went on carefully, my thumb still tracing slow, grounding circles against her skin. “And I don’t want to sound paranoid. Hell, there have been moments where I’ve wondered if that’s exactly what I am.” I let out a quiet breath. “But too many things don’t add up.”