Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 30055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
I wipe her tears with my fingertips, but they refuse to stop falling.
For a while, neither of us says anything.
“I never thought Lucas would throw his own children under the bus.” She sucks in a breath. “Antonio and Ryan have no idea what’s coming their way.”
I still for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“They have several pending charges as well, but—” She shakes her head. “They’re brainwashed into believing their father has some huge master plan for their legal woes.”
“Doesn’t he?” I ask. “I doubt Jameson Tate would ever let any of them get near a guilty verdict.”
My heart skips a beat at the thought of Jameson.
“Only your father has Mr. Tate now.” Her voice is strained. “He’s going to let them take the fall, make sure their commissary accounts are always full whenever they’re locked away, and then carry on with business as usual.”
My heart drops, and I struggle to find the words to convince her she’s wrong.
But I can’t point to a single moment of softness in my father’s history, or any memory that suggests he’s capable of putting someone else before himself.
“What do you think he’ll do to you when he finds out about the divorce?” I change the subject.
“I can’t worry about that.” She squeezes my hand. “The last thing Francis did for me was create an emergency getaway plan for me to follow in case I ever needed to disappear. And since practically all the men left on your father’s team are new, they won’t know where to start looking for me.”
“What about me?” I ask. “If he calls me, what should I say or do?”
“Oh, Scarlett.” Her face pales. “Your father wiped his hands clean of you once he got arrested. He thinks you’re to blame.”
“I…” The pain ripping through my chest is unbearable. “I’m not. I didn’t. I mean, even if I wanted to turn him in, I wouldn’t know where to begin, and I didn’t find out about—”
I stop stuttering when she pulls me close, taking her turn to comfort me.
“It’s okay,” she says. “At least you’re free now. You can live and do whatever you want without his shadow hanging over you, Scarlett Winters.”
The way she says my new last name makes me look up.
“We might’ve had the same idea with that.” She smiles. “I picked Autumn for my new last name. Think it fits?”
“It’s perfect.”
I’m not sure how long we sit in that dining room holding each other, but when the staff flicker the lights to signal that it’s time to close, it feels like we’ve only been here an hour.
And somehow, we never ordered any food.
“There’s a place down the street we can go,” I say, standing up. “It’s a taco food truck.”
“A what?”
“A taco food truck.”
“As in, the kitchen is inside a vehicle?” She arches a brow. “And we’re expected to pay for that?”
“Yes, Mother.” I nod. “That’s how the regular world works.”
“Would you judge me for wanting to go to the hotel restaurant down the street instead?” she asks. “They have tacos, too.”
“Not at all.” I smile at her for the first time in forever. “You’re still you.”
“For now.” She clasps my hand and leads me outside into California’s warm evening air.
We make it halfway down the block when she suddenly lets out a scream.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe I almost missed that!” She points toward a city bus.
“There’s no way you actually take public transportation.”
“I’m not talking about the bus.” She points at the sign stretched across its side. “There’s going to be a huge, multi-day book signing with my favorite author. He’s amazing.”
I squint at the sign.
The King of Thrillers Is in Town: Come Meet Peter Hansel
I shrug. “I’ve never heard of him.”
“You have to start reading his books,” she says. “Peter Hansel has the ability to make your entire world disappear with his words. He creates these crazy and intense plots that…”
I stop walking at the sound of his name.
Looking at the billboard again, I realize that I have heard of him before.
From Jameson.
“When I get done with you, Peter Hansel, you’ll be looking up at me from Hell and regretting the day you ever fucked me and my family over.”
“I’d like to go to that book signing with you,” I say, desperate to put together a few more pieces of a puzzle I can’t bear to leave unfinished. “When is it?”
“Next Friday.”
CHARACTER WITNESS (N.):
A PERSON WHO TESTIFIES IN COURT ABOUT THE DEFENDANT'S MORAL STANDING, PERSONAL TRAITS, AND GENERAL REPUTATION IN THE COMMUNITY.
JAMESON
“Idon’t see why I can’t testify in my own defense.” Lucas puffs on his cigar while pacing my living room. “It would save you some time.”
“Only guilty people get on the stand, Mr. Hunter.” I look up at him. “It’s better to let the evidence do all the talking.”
“Well, based on everything you keep telling me, the evidence is going to get me sent to prison.”