Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 159420 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 531(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159420 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 531(@300wpm)
He keeps his gaze steady as he replies after a few moments, “Figured you were headed my way when you kept goin’ up the path. Thought I should make it easy for you.”
My heart is racing even harder now, and I ask, even though I know the answer, “Why?”
He studies me back before telling me what I already expected him to: “A man always pays his dues. A smart one, anyhow.”
“Who taught you that? Your twisted sense of honor.”
“My ma and my daddy.” My breath hitches and he keeps going, “Although they didn’t mean for it to be twisted. That was all me.”
I can’t believe he did that. He helped me—the Turner Princess—get into his private domain when he’s usually so tight-lipped about himself. But maybe I should believe it because wasn’t it him who made me slide the knife in between his ribs for all his crimes against me?
I know his wound is fine now, by the way. Not only because I heard him telling Haven but also because his gait is more natural. He doesn’t favor his left side anymore. For days, I worried about him, watched him carefully whenever we crossed paths. So many times I wanted to break his rules and seek him out. But I stayed put. I knew he wouldn’t have liked me looking for him.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” I blurt out.
The silence is so thick that my voice sounds extremely loud. My breaths sound noisy too. My chest is heaving and I’m clutching my dress tightly. Just saying those words out loud is sending me into such distress, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I actually have to go tomorrow.
To make matters worse, my father is sending out a car that will take me back to Wildfire. The place I avoid going to at all costs. The place where I’ve seen my father do terrible things. I haven’t been back there in a long time, choosing to spend my summers at our cabin up in the mountains. The only thing I ever ask of him, apart from letting me live with Reverie in the city. But as a part of the deal that was struck between the Graysons and the Turners after my “kidnapping for the Turner land,” I’m to be released into my father’s custody. I’m sure he has some grand plans to keep me away from the cabin that I desperately want to be at. Another one of his power plays.
But the thing is I found a way, see. To get out from under my father’s thumb. I found leverage. When I did the snooping, I couldn’t find anything else on the Graysons, but I did find something on my own father. And now I’m going to use it to get my freedom. I’m going to move on with my life, away from my father, from this town, from the Grayson–Turner rivalry. This is another reason why our connection doesn’t matter. I’m going away, leaving everything behind.
“I mean, you already know that, but…” When all he does is stare at me, I continue. “I wanted to give you something before I left.”
Then, under his thick scrutiny, I walk toward him. It’s hard. My knees are trembling and my belly is heavy. And the fact that with every step I take toward him, he somehow grows larger and more intense, is not helping. When I reach him, his scent of leather and spices is the first thing to hit me, followed by his heat. And then comes the thought that the last time we were alone, he not only made me put a knife through his ribs, but he also ordered me to ride his wounded stomach until I came.
My cheeks are on fire; my entire body is on fire, but I ignore everything. With shaking hands, I root around in the pocket of my dress and slide out a piece of paper. I hold it toward him, but instead of taking it from me, his eyes turn even more piercing, his jaw tight. “It’s, uh, the code. To the front gate of my ranch.”
He goes still at that, probably surprised, and I don’t blame him. I’m sure this was unexpected to him. But I have to get this out before I lose my nerve. “Ever since the attack on my dad when Arsen tried to… He’s become really paranoid. He has personal bodyguards. He doesn’t go anywhere without them. He also has codes for everything, the gate, the front door, his room. I wrote it all down. Now that Arsen’s out, I know he’s going to keep changing them every few days. He used to do that, years ago. So these will probably be good for only a few days, but I… I got someone, one of our old maids who still works for us, to give them to me. Well, I kinda used your phone. To contact her. But I promise it was only for that, and… She won’t say anything either; she always liked my mom and me. I also wrote down his schedule. Because of his condition, he has to follow a strict regimen. He was weekly appointments with doctors, speech therapists, and other scheduled stuff.”