Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“Where were you? How did you let this happen!” she shouts.
“Anya.” River tries to pull her away.
I burst out of my chair, and it screeches across the floor. “It was me!”
She turns to me then as if only just noticing me. Her violent gaze narrows on me. “You?”
Hawke looks up at me through thick lashes, his expression unreadable. I’m almost certain he blames me as well.
Now that I have Anya’s full attention, I shrink into myself. She’s going to kill me.
“A woman kidnapped me and Ford.” My bottom lip wobbles because the reality of everything is sinking in. “He drank poison.”
“And what, you’re too good for him that you couldn’t drink it instead?” she demands.
“Anya!” River snaps, pulling her back. “We don’t understand the circumstances,” he reminds her.
I welcome her anger.
I welcome her to tear me into two.
A dark presence fills the doorway as Eli walks in. He quickly assesses the situation and gravitates toward me, his full height and mass filling the space as he pointedly stands beside me. He doesn’t say anything, and Anya isn’t at all deterred by him. But it brings a clear divide to the room.
Eli looks down at his loyal man in the bed and then focuses on Hawke. “Update?”
Hawke clears his throat as if coming back to reality for the first time. He blinks a few times, clearly paralyzed in the same way I am. I sink into my chair, doing everything to fight the tears.
I deserve this, not Ford.
“It appears Emily Fall was behind the poisonings. I dealt with her. Apparently, her lover was part of Laurence Tate’s crew, and she was one of the women we let go that night when we killed them.”
Anya blinks as if a startling understanding hits her.
“Hmm.” Eli hums as he glances back down at Ford, clearly pissed at himself for missing a vital clue before it was too late. I don’t know exactly who the people they’re referring to are or what business they had with them, but it appears everyone else in the room is fully aware of something I am not. “Do I want to ask how you got involved?”
Eli’s penetrating glare turns to me, and I look up at him, tears in my eyes as I wring my hands in my lap.
“Ah,” is all he says right before all hell breaks loose.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” Dutton shouts as he bursts into the room. The information would’ve trickled to my brother, who would’ve been able to put pieces of the puzzle together. Eli moves in front of him as Hawke stands at the end of his brothers’ bed protectively. “You fucking touched my sister!” Dutton is a wild, savage animal on the hunt for blood.
I jump to my feet and shout, “Stop!” He doesn’t hear me. He never does.
Dutton is struggling against Eli. A few punches are exchanged before Anya pulls out a gun and points it at his head. I reach for one of Ford’s crowbars, using whatever I have to make sure my brother doesn’t actually kill the man I love.
“She would be so lucky to have someone like my son. I don’t give a shit who you are. I’ll put a bullet in your brain if you try to touch my son,” Anya seethes. I’m surprised she hasn’t already pulled the trigger.
I shove past Hawke and Eli to stand in front of my brother. He doesn’t even look like himself right now, his blue eyes dilated as he glares at me, and it’s the angriest I’ve ever seen him, almost disgusted. How did I fuck this up so badly? I realize that this is simply another thing he couldn’t control. He could no longer control me, and I think that has more to do with it than who I choose to have by my side.
Not that I have that right anymore.
“Outside,” I growl, and when he doesn’t move, I point the crowbar at him. “Or I’ll point that gun at your head instead.”
He seems stunned at my outburst, and Eli looks between us, an uncertain expression on his face. But whatever Dutton sees, he doesn’t challenge me. He shoves Eli off and storms out of the room. I turn to face the others. “I’m sorry for all the problems I’ve caused.” I put the crowbar down on my way out the door. I don’t deserve to hold onto this item.
“You didn’t cause this,” Hawke says quietly from the corner. Even if they have information I’m not yet aware of, I welcome his hate because I will never not feel responsible for this. I offer him a sad smile because I know I very much led us here. Even if something else was the catalyst for bringing a psychotic woman to prey on us, there were many things I had to apologize for. Many things I can’t unsee. Things I can’t undo.