Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“Shit!” Kraven exclaimed, grabbing my hand. In one quick movement, he yanked me up with him, and we took off running.
I kept up with his pace, but somewhere along the way, I started laughing as we ran deeper into the woods.
“God!” I abruptly stopped once the coast was clear, looking up at the sky. “Can you please stop using us as your source of entertainment?” With my hands on my knees, I panted, trying to catch my breath.
“I hate to break it to you, Kitty, but I don’t think he’s going to listen. Now this—” I requested an Uber on my phone. “This will listen.”
During the entire ride to the house, we were silent. I could sense his regard for me, pushing and pulling like a game of tug-of-war until he reached for my hand, holding it in his lap the rest of the drive.
In the grand scheme of things, it was such a simple gesture, but at that moment, it meant everything. Lightly, he brushed his thumb back and forth on my fingers, stirring shivers to course down my spine.
Kraven was never far from my mind, but suddenly, he lived there. On the whole Uber ride to the house, I thought of nothing else.
Only him.
Kraven.
“House is on the corner,” he instructed the driver. “Isla, I—”
I gasped, noticing the lights were on in the living room. In the blink of an eye, my stomach dropped, and all I could think about was Julius being home.
He finally came back.
“Isla—”
I quickly opened the door, darting toward the entrance.
“Isla—”
Sprinting past the threshold, I didn’t listen, instantly coming face-to-face with him.
After all this time…
His stare cut through me before landing on Kraven, who was now standing beside me.
“You stupid motherfucker!” he roared.
Kraven instantly placed me behind him, viciously glaring at him. What happened next burned into my memory. Nothing could have prepared me for what was about to go down. I was used to being caught in the middle.
Except this time, it wasn’t Julius and Kraven I was stuck in the middle of.
No.
This time, it wasn’t sibling rivalry I was up against.
This encounter was much darker.
Deeper.
This battle was with Kraven and the first man who ever broke his heart.
He was the original wound he’d never heal from…
* * *
His father.
Chapter
Fifty
Isla
Joe didn’t waver, attacking full force. “You fucking killed her, you little shit! You finally fucking killed her!”
I flinched, stunned by the power of his statement.
Joe slurred, stumbling all around. “You sucked the life out of her! You both did! You and Julius! You did this to her! You’re the reason she’s dead!”
I thought Kraven would fight back.
I thought he’d argue.
Stick up for himself.
Something.
Anything.
Other than how he was reacting. He was frozen in the place he stood.
Coming from a guy who always chose to fight, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Joe barged right in as if he were invited. Fully aware he wasn’t even welcome. Every last one of his demons emerged, clouding the space around us. The tension was so thick you could choke on it.
The answers he needed.
The truth he was looking for.
The reality of his mistakes and regrets.
None of what I thought I’d see from a father who abandoned his sons was there.
Instead, he was filled with nothing but his wrath.
The room smelled of booze and weed, and it was obvious he was shit-faced. He could barely stand, slurring his words as he held a bottle of whiskey that was almost empty.
I grew anxious and impatient from the mixture of emotions he triggered inside me. The sentiments dwelled in the dark hollow space where fear still lived.
Not for me but for Kraven.
He wouldn’t survive this.
The man who made him was also the man who’d destroy him in the end. Now if that wasn’t irony, I didn’t know what was. He was nothing like Melody, making me think physical abuse was involved as well. It’d make sense why Kraven always chose to fight as his first instinct. He watched it at home and possibly experienced it himself.
By the way he stood, I could tell this wasn’t their first rodeo in confrontation. I was more surprised by Kraven’s reaction than by their encounter.
Not an inch of my skin didn’t feel their hatred for each other, boiling from both Knightleys.
“You know she hated you,” Joe mercilessly baited. “She hated being a mother! She fucking despised it!”
Kraven swallowed hard, sweat pooling at his temples while his hands fisted at his sides. Finally, a reaction out of him. Though I didn’t know which one was worse, seeing something or seeing nothing.
“I wish she’d never had you! You’re nothing but a mistake! Do you hear me, boy? You’re a fucking mistake!”
Incapable of stopping myself, I ordered, “That’s enough!”
He ignored me, drowning in his temper. “I fucking hate you! Do you hear me? You took her away from me! If it weren’t for you, she’d still be here!” He harshly pointed at him. “You’re a fucking murderer!”