Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
“Wow.” I lean back in my seat. “No wonder you’re like this.”
Silas narrows his eyes at me like I caught him red-handed.
“You said that out loud,” Max whispers into my ear.
“I know,” I say, unafraid.
“Those men were after you for a reason,” Silas says, putting his elbows on the table as he leans his chin on both hands. “So what was it?”
“Do we have to do this now?” Max asks.
“Yes,” Silas replies. “Now.”
I grind my teeth. I’m not about to tell them my entire life’s story when they could use it against me.
“I owed them …”
“What?”
“Money.”
He snorts. “Money for what?”
He won’t stop prying until he’s satisfied, will he?
“Why do you care?”
“I care because there’s no way those violent fuckers would come after a girl like you without an ulterior motive. What kind of money could you have borrowed? What amount would warrant a murder in the middle of the streets?”
“I never said I borrowed money.”
“Then why did you need to pay them back with the money you stole from us?”
“I was being blackmailed,” I sneer. “The same way you’re blackmailing me.”
“The only difference here is that I’m offering you protection,” he says.
“By locking me up in this gilded prison?”
His eyes flicker with contempt, as though he hates the very idea of this house being a prison, but we both know it’s the goddamn truth.
“I don’t need protection if it comes at a price I’m not willing to pay.” I scoot back my chair and march off.
“Wait, but you haven’t even finished eating!” Max yells, but I ignore him.
I’m not going to just sit there and be interrogated in exchange for some food. I’m better than that. Even if Max is the nicest of them all, he’s still on their side. Can I even trust him to keep me safe from the others? No, Silas and Heath run the show here. This is their domain, and I’m just a passenger. A welcome guest … until I’m not. And I brought Cora right into the wolf’s den.
Fuck.
I head up the stairs, but when I get to the room, she’s still sleeping soundly, with a little bubble of snot blowing out of one of her nostrils, and it makes me grin.
Sweet girl doesn’t even know what’s going on. She just wants a safe home.
I sigh and open the closet to see if I can find anything we can take with us, but there’s only two sets of clothes, one of which I’m wearing right now. None of this will ever be enough to keep us warm, let alone the fact we don’t have a home to return to.
At least not for the foreseeable future. Those fuckers who tried to take me are probably waiting right by my door to strike again if I ever show my face.
It’s not safe.
A sudden hand on my shoulder makes me jolt up and down, and I peer over my shoulder.
“You can’t go back to your home,” Heath says.
It’s like he can peer into my mind.
“Why do you care what I do?”
“Silas wants to protect you. I know he’s an asshole, but he won’t let anyone harm you. Trust me.”
“Why should I trust you?” I jerk free of his grip. “You literally tried to shoot me the last time we saw each other.”
His face darkens. “They were blanks,” he says.
“The gun was empty?” I scoff
“I was never going to shoot you. I couldn’t. Not ever.”
I snort. “Yeah, that’s rich after you already threatened me.”
When I try to leave, he places a flat hand on the door, stopping me in my tracks. “I needed to know how far you would go for him.” He grabs my chin. “How hard … you’d fallen for him.”
So that’s it? Jealousy?
That’s why he tried to shoot?
“We’re killers. No one here would be better at protecting you and Cora.”
“The police, for one,” I reply.
“You think they wouldn’t throw you in jail after discovering your involvement with all those dead bodies they probably already found by now? Your fingerprints were all over that crime scene.”
I gulp. He’s right. They’d immediately lock me up if they got their hands on me even though I’m innocent. Who will vouch for me? I’m just a lowly thief, and the guy who sent those fuckers to get me will surely testify on their behalf.
Shit.
“You’re safer here than anywhere else,” Heath adds. “I swear on my fucking life.”
“Why? Why would I be safe here when I have nothing of my own and no one I can trust?” I ask. “I don’t have any of my stuff, I don’t even have clothes. All I have is this room, Cora, and you guys.”
I tilt my head back so I can look him in the eyes and determine if he really is truthful with wanting to protect me.
“Because …”
His thumb brushes over my lips as his eyes home in on them, almost as if he’s studying the very shape of my face.