Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
And out of anyone I have ever known, even my own mother who did the best she could, I feel like if anyone can protect me, if anyone can keep me safe, it’s Zeke.
I try to make my face blank as I look up at him. He can’t know what I’m thinking. He’ll just use it against me. Mock me.
He’s got to be a foot taller than me and, as if to make sure I get the message, he gives my neck a squeeze to show me he’s also much stronger than me. I didn’t need the reminder.
“Why did you tell me that?” he asks.
“Why did I tell you what?”
“About your father.”
I squint up into the sunshine, shrug a shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know why you told me, or you didn’t know you wanted that?”
Perceptive, this man. I need to be careful. “Don’t know,” I lie.
“You do. Just to be clear, nothing has changed between us. What I told you last night, it stands. What I’m doing now I’m doing for your sister. Considering what happened to her. You do anything stupid today, and I’ll punish you. And it won’t be a simple spanking. Clear?”
“And you’ll enjoy every moment of my punishment, I’m sure.”
One corner of his mouth curves upward into a grin. “On second thought, do something stupid.”
I roll my eyes and tug free of him to climb into the car.
16
Ezekiel
The heat of her skin scorches my hand. I don’t miss her shudder at my touch. I don’t miss how she licks her lips when she looks up at me, even if she’s unaware of it herself. I still very clearly remember how her body reacted to me last night.
What she said at the end of the night I still have to unpack.
She climbs into the passenger seat of the SUV. I set the laptop in the backseat then lean over her to strap her in. Her breath catches for the second time in just a few minutes and her nipples tighten, pressing against the fabric of her dress.
Last night, after I sent her to bed, I remained in the study until the fire died down and drank Carlton Bishop’s whiskey. I then went upstairs to her room. Maybe I slept in that chair for a few minutes now and again. Maybe it was jet lag. But I watched her. I don’t know why exactly. It’s a creepy move, I know, but I had to.
I search her eyes. Why did what she said have such an impact on me? I don’t care about her. She’s no one to me. Is it guilt? Or a twisted chance at redemption? There is no redemption for me. No atonement for my sin, because it cost Zoë her life. So, what is it about Blue that has me unable to look away? To walk away? What is it that holds me here, invested, because I am. And it has nothing to do with what she knows about me.
I study her face, watch the pink creeping up her neck as her eyes dart just beyond my shoulder. We’re at eye-level with her in the high SUV. I touch her jaw, turn her face to mine. She licks her lips yet again. She’s very pretty and when the blue of her eyes deepens, I know it’s her body’s reaction to my touch. She wants me to touch her as much as I want it. I try to read beyond the desire in her eyes, to the darkness just beyond. I want to understand the woman who spoke words of patricide the night before. The woman who is somehow not afraid to be with a man she knows murdered his own father.
I don’t know what it is, why it is that I’ve taken such an interest in Blue Thorne. Maybe it’s because of Zoë. Because I failed her so wholly that I’m hyper aware now, with Blue. I don’t know. I should try to remember why she’s here. Pretty as she is, she’s an extortionist. I should keep it in mind, even though there’s another side to this. Her motivation is not greed. She will do whatever she needs to do to look after her sister. Selfless as her quest may be, though, it should not cloud my judgment. What she wants cannot become my problem.
I don’t know what she sees in my eyes but she’s unable to hold my gaze. She turns her head, pushes her hand through the waves of blue and black hair.
I close her door, glad to have that barrier between us as the thought of her in my bed wakes a thing inside me that should be left to lie. My sister was broken physically, emotionally, mentally, by the end. Me, physically, I am whole. Emotionally, I’m a corpse. And yet, it’s my mind that worries me because it is a twisted, dark thing. And there is a part of me that knows that for Blue to be safe, she needs to stay out of it.