Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“Bothers?”
“Breathing.”
“Nice.” I say through clenched teeth. “So, I find this list or you what? Make her miserable? Make it impossible for her to get a job?”
He laughs, actually laughs at me. “No, no, no, nothing like that.” He walks over and taps his knuckles against the countertop. “Brake lines are surprisingly delicate things. One little cut and nobody asks questions. Tragic accident. It happens every day.”
I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.
But not yet.
He’d see it coming. He wants my reaction.
I cross my arms and lean back and finally look up at him. His mustache is gray along with his hair. He looks older than the last time I saw him, more set in his ways, more heartless and terrifying like he’s done so much evil he doesn’t even recognize what’s good anymore. He’s not a man I should cross, I’m not afraid for myself, I’m afraid for Lilah, a man with no heart still might change in the end, a man with no soul has no reason to anyway. He lacks both. “When do you need this magical list by?”
“The sooner the better. Don’t make me wait, Jude. I hate waiting, and so do the people who want to burn this thing to the ground. Don’t disappoint me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I sigh. “We done now?”
“Yeah.” He flashes me an icy smile. “Good seeing you.”
“Can’t say the same. I’ll be in touch.” He nods and walks out of the room leaving me alone with my racing heart and fucked up emotions.
He’ll do it. He’ll hurt her.
I have no clue how to get the list other than to do exactly what it wants me to do. Play right into his hands, choose her and just hope whoever’s behind it will sense my desperation.
I quickly pull out my phone and shoot an email to the tip line. It could be fake, it could be real, either way, I have to try.
I drop my phone back onto the table and flip it over then dig my hands into the clay. I push and pull, I tug and hit.
He’s a monster.
A demon.
Satan himself.
Fuck!
I feel her before I see her.
It’s been hours, and all I have in front of me is a sculpture—a rough one—of her face, all beautiful sharp angles and full lips. I was waiting to do the eyes. For what, who knows?
“Am I an idiot for making a sculpture of you like a coward before calling or seeing you? For touching this clay instead of the real thing but dying a bit inside because it still gives me peace?” I say.
Lilah’s hands cover mine before she pulls back and locks her fingers with mine. “Kind of, but I like that crazy part of you, the one that needs to feel me how ever he can and shows his desperation even in his art.”
“I was going to do the eyes, but I don’t think I can do them justice, Lilah.”
“They’re just eyes.”
“They’re your soul,” I whisper. “It’s too pure for my hands.”
“Are you okay?” She lowers herself into my lap wrapping her legs around me.
It’s so natural that I instinctively put my dirty hands around her and rest my face against her chest. “No. Not by a longshot.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Words won’t fix what’s wrong with me even if it’s your voice.”
“Hmmm,” She grabs me by the hair and tilts my head back. “The how about this.”
Her mouth collides with mine before I can say yes. With her body pressed up against me and the smell of her invading every sense I have, I fall headfirst into the kiss, greedy for more as our tongues tangle together. This is everything I wanted seven years ago, everything I’ve wanted since laying eyes on her.
Truth.
A real kiss.
No more confessions.
No more revenge.
Our bodies speaking for us, the way our art does, and finding a way to describe that without messing it up with my inability to get the right words out. I slide my hands under her shirt then tug it over her head.
With a moan she breaks free from the kiss, eyes wild. “It’s not fake.”
“What’s not fake?”
“This kiss. My mouth.” She grabs me by the head, her hands on either side of my cheeks pressing painfully in, making it impossible to look at anything but her. Her brown eyes lock in on me with such precision it’s like a shot directly into my soul. She isn’t asking permission, she’s diving straight through like an explosion with no shield. “I’m kissing you because I want to. Because I’ve always loved you. Because I thought you were lost and you’re found, because I’m afraid to let go of you. I’m afraid that you’re going to disappear again, that I’m going to lose these moments. Because we aren’t promised anything but right now. And right now, I want my best friend, Jude. I want his mouth, his body, his fears, his wishes. I want a million kisses followed by a million fights only so we can make up again. I want it all, bloody, messy, cursed. That’s how love should be. Equal parts dark and light. Equal parts beauty and pain.”