Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 26892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
The pieces of the puzzle click together. All of Genevieve’s hang-ups, her insecurities, the oversized clothes, the way she flinched when I spoke too loudly at first. The hesitation, the fear of not being enough, it’s all because of him. Bryce tried his hardest to break down the sweetest, most breathtaking woman I have ever known.
And he brought it all right back. A wave of self-loathing hits me. I grab him by the collar, drag his dead weight across the threshold, and throw him out of my house.
“Get off my property. If you ever step foot on this land again, if you ever go near Genevieve, or if you even so much as breathe her name in public, I will use every dollar, every lawyer, and every backdoor avenue to put you in a fucking cage. Get out.” I don’t wait for a response. I step back inside, slam the door shut, and throw the deadbolt in place.
My breath rattles in my chest, and my knuckles throb, but my mind is laser-focused. I pull my phone out, fingers flying across the screen with ruthless efficiency. The first one is to my lead accountant, Kevin.
Gavin: Cut Bryce off immediately. No more paying for anything.
Kevin: On it.
The next one goes to my lawyer, Marjorie.
Gavin: Bryce’s condo, put it up for sale. Evict the occupant at the end of today. And while we’re at it, revoke the trust.
Marjorie: Working on it right away. Charging you triple for interrupting my Sunday.
Gavin: I expect nothing less.
Now that those ties are severed, I toss my phone on the entry table and run up the stairs three at a time. I strip off my sweats the minute I’m back in the master bedroom. Genevieve’s warm spun sugar scent, her clothes, her toiletries are scattered here and there in the room. Christ, I need to get her back. I pull on a pair of jeans, shirt, and socks, shove my feet in a pair of shoes, and sprint back down the stairs.
I only slow down to grab my phone and my keys, only to stop when I see a message notification.
Dante: Don’t make me regret this. Alex picked your woman up off the side of the road and took her home, where Genevieve insisted on being left alone. If you fuck this up, you’re a dumbass.
I walk through the house until I hit the garage and go through the motions of opening the door, climbing into my SUV, and hitting the ignition. While doing all of these things, the only thought I have running through my head is getting to Genevieve. I’ll get on my knees, spend the rest of my life making sure she knows how incredible she is, how loved she is, and how undeniably she belongs to me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
gavin
Gavin
Idrive like a man possessed, tearing through the city streets, cutting through traffic until I pull up to Genevieve’s townhouse. My SUV’s transmission is probably toast after slamming it in Park. Fuck, a car is replaceable. What isn’t is Genevieve. I climb out of my vehicle, sprint up the front steps, and my fingers punch at the keypad door code with an urgency before I barge right through her door.
“Genevieve!” She’s huddled on the couch, swallowed by a massive, knitted afghan-style blanket. Tears silently cascade down her pale, red-stained face. The sight breaks the last piece of will I have.
“Gavin, please. You shouldn’t be here.” Her voice is raw and broken. She shakes her head frantically, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“Like hell I shouldn’t.” I kick the door shut behind me and stride through her place and into the living room, needing to be close to her.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobs, voice cracking as she pushes herself into the cushions, trying to make herself smaller. “I’m so, so sorry I came between the two of you. He’s your son, Gavin. I can’t do this. I just can’t. I finally feel like I’m returning back to my normal self, and I can’t be the reason you lose your family. I can’t…” She trails off, closing her eyes, head tipping back in an effort to contain her emotions.
“Stop it right there.” My voice is firm and uncompromising yet soft as I stop in front of her, dropping to my knees near the couch. I grab her trembling hands through the blanket. “Please stop talking like that. This is not over, Genevieve, and you and I are sure as hell not through.”
“Gavin, he’s your blood.”
“Listen to me.” I wait until her beautiful green eyes look at me. “You need to understand what Byce actually is to me. I didn’t raise him. I didn’t even know he existed until he was a teenager. His mother and I had a single one-night stand years ago. She tracked me down when Bryce was seventeen because he was getting in trouble and she needed money.” Genevieve blinks, her breath catching as she listens, the shock temporarily stopping her tears. “Ever since then, I’ve tried to be a father to him, tried to teach him right from wrong, how to be a man. Only to become a revolving door for whenever he wants cash.” Bitterness turns my stomach. “I felt guilty for not being there, so I made sure he had a place to live, a car to drive, and his living expenses, water, power, and insurance paid for. Do you know why he came to my house this morning? Because he stopped by my office earlier this week asking for another handout, and I turned him down. I’m not financing some cockamamie scheme.”