Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
From the moment I opened the door, a primal fury erupted deep inside me at the sight of her standing there, her expression resembling that of a deer caught in headlights. My anger was palpable, this suffocating pressure that made me want to lash out and introduce her to the rules, no matter the cost, since Julius refused to.
Someone had to put her in her place and make sure she stayed there.
One thing was blatant: she definitely wasn’t scared of me, or she wouldn’t be in there.
“What is this?” I snapped. “Fuck around and find out, jailbird.”
She stood wide-eyed like she’d just seen a ghost, and at this point, I might as well have been one. Eyeing me up and down, she took in the state I was in as I spewed, “Shouldn’t you be in my brother’s bed?”
She winced and didn’t try to hide it, simply pissing me off further.
“I asked you a question, several actually, and I expect an answer.” My patience was wearing thin, barely having any to begin with.
She opened her mouth, shutting it just as fast.
“Un-fucking-believable,” I breathed out, angry that she was playing these games with me. I pushed past the doorframe and was over to her in three strides, causing her to fall onto the edge of my bed.
In one hasty movement, I loomed over her face. “Do you think I’m buying this silent damsel-in-distress act you’re pulling on my brother?”
Her gaze widened, and her breathing hitched, obviously winded by my allegations.
Leaning in closer to her face, I bit out, “You wouldn’t be in my room, on my bed, in my face right now, if you thought for one second, I wouldn’t fall for your little games.”
She frantically started shaking her head, still not uttering a word.
“Enough with the silent bullshit!” I ordered, now hovering above her. “If you really couldn’t speak, you’d be a lot better at hiding the fact that you’re just another stray from the streets, and it’s only a matter of time before I throw your ass back out there. I can see right through you… I’m not my brother.”
“Kraven!” Julius shouted, reprimanding me from my door. “For fuck’s sake, I can’t leave you alone for two minutes.”
I jerked around, the sound of his voice only fueling my fire. “Are you here to hold her hand? Or did you get here just in time to catch her snooping in my bedroom?”
Her abrupt movement was enough to bring our attention back to her. She stood, and I expected her to run into Julius’s arms. Seeking shelter from the hero he was trying to be. I guess that made me the villain.
Her enemy and I had absolutely no problem filling that role.
Flying over to my desk instead, she surprised me as her steady grasp snatched the sheets of paper and pen off it to show them to us.
The realization of what she was searching for in my room hit us at the same time. She then laid the paper back down and began writing firmly on it. Each letter was more heated than the last. We waited there as if she were about to read us our favorite bedtime story.
In yet another quick movement, she lifted it to us.
It read:
I’m sorry.
With that, she slammed the sheet into my chest and left. Leaving us to contemplate…
Those were the first two words she ever said to us, and they’d carry a heavy hold.
Especially to me.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
JULIUS
“Silence speaks when words can’t.” -Unknown.
One month later.
Everything changed so fast.
Overnight, my world turned upside down.
All because of the girl with cinnamon-colored freckles and bright red hair.
She’d been living at our house for the past month, leaving behind whatever shitty life she’d become accustomed to. It was crazy the things she wasn’t used to. Simple stuff like having her favorite drinks in the fridge or the snacks she seemed to enjoy in the pantry. Her eyes would light up every time she found something new. It was only after I insisted that she could eat whatever she wanted.
When I asked her for a list of her favorite foods and drinks, I quickly realized she was easy to please. Her list consisted of only three things: water, crackers, and peanut butter.
All cheap.
All filling.
No fuss to cook.
Which came in handy when you didn’t know where you’d be getting your next meal.
Those little things made me feel crazy, as if I already knew so much about her without her having to say a word to me. She still hadn’t spoken. The last thing I wanted to do was push her until she was ready, unlike Kraven.
Any chance he got, he’d openly show his disdain for her. He was never one to hold back, and she seemed to bring out the worst in him, or maybe he was just trying to piss me off and was well aware he could do it through acting out.