Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Was this what it was like for him to watch me fuck Allegra?
No. That was different. It wasn’t him I was looking at when I was fucking her. It was her. And I did it for one reason and one reason alone. To drive my point home: Allegra is off limits. She’s mine.
What point is he making? He’s not. It’s rage. Pure, unchecked rage as his eyes bore into mine while he fucks Mina raw.
And from the sounds she’s making, she’s loving every second of it.
I swallow my whisky down and keep my empty glass in hand. I don’t look away. I can’t. I feel every angry thrust and when he comes, he bites his lip so hard that he draws blood. Yet, he still refuses to look away. Still, he refuses to release the lock of our eyes.
Because this is about us.
When he’s finished, he drops back onto his heels out of breath.
Mina rolls onto her side, spent.
I stand, set my glass down and hand Mina her robe which is hanging behind the door. I don’t look away from Jet.
“Thanks, baby,” she says and glances down. “Want me to take care of that?”
I grip her wrist before she can wrap her hand around my erection. “I’m fine. Go downstairs.” I take my wallet out to hand her a hundred-dollar bill. “That Chinese place still around?” She nods. “Good. Order some food for yourself.”
She turns to Jet. He’s the customer, after all.
“It’s fine. Go, Mina. Leave us alone.”
She nods. “Thanks,” she says about the money and walks out, closing the door behind her.
“Whiskey?” I ask him, resuming my seat and pouring myself a fresh glass.
“In a minute.” He gets up and I’m glad to see he used a condom. He walks into the bathroom and closes the door. The shower goes on and I look out the window while I wait. The neighborhood hasn’t changed, not at all. It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I wonder if Jet’s been visiting Mina regularly. I realize I don’t know. He could have any woman he wants. He could pay any high-end escort if that’s what he chooses to do, although he doesn’t need to pay for it. Still, he comes here.
The shower switches off and Jet steps into the bedroom, a cloud of steam behind him. He’s got a towel wrapped low around his hips and crosses the room unselfconsciously. His clothes are on the chair in the opposite corner.
“What do you want?” he asks as he gets dressed.
“We need to talk.”
“Do we?” He zips up his jeans before pulling his sweater on. “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.”
“No? Then why come here?”
He takes the glass of whiskey I pour for him, drops to a seat on the foot of the bed and sips.
“Because you knew I’d find you here, that’s why,” I continue. “Well, here I am. Glad to see you used a condom at least.”
“She’s clean.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Did you enjoy the show?”
“Is that what this was? Tit for tat?”
“Nah. Tit for tat would imply I was injured by your little… what was that anyway?”
My jaw ticks because I see what I saw before he and Allegra noticed I was there. I see her hand in his. I see his thumb circling her wrist.
Before I can say anything, he continues.
“How many times you going to strip her naked and flaunt her in front of my face and expect me to walk away?”
“Whatever fantasy you’ve got in your head about Allegra, forget it. She’s not for you.”
“She wasn’t for Malek Lombardi either, but we all saw how that went.”
I slam my glass down on the table. “Careful, Jet,” I say through clenched teeth.
“What? It’s true. Now you want to protect her? Like you’re protecting Vivi and Gage? Your ‘protection’ got a gun hand delivered to their front door.”
I’m on my feet in a heartbeat, gripping him by his shirt, dragging him up. I slam him against the wall.
“Be. Fucking. Careful.”
“Or is it like you’re protecting Seth by locking him away when his mind is gone? When it’s the last thing he wanted.”
“You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.”
“I do. You told me, remember? We shared that bottle of whiskey, and you told me what he said back when he could speak his mind. When he had a mind. And you made a promise that you’ve broken. Just like you broke the promise to keep his fiancée and child safe. Just like you broke any promise you ever made to Allegra to keep her safe.”
My grip falters, his words hitting their mark.
“I can’t give him what he wanted. You fucking know that, you asshole.” I slam him backward. Because what Seth wanted, what he made me promise, was to end it before this disease destroyed him. Before it did what it’s done. But I couldn’t do it. I loved my brother. I love him. I can’t kill him.