Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Making my way inside, I focus my attention on the door that I know leads into my uncle’s office at the end of a darkened hallway. I was never allowed to enter that room when I was young, so it’s always intrigued me.
I don’t know how long I stand gazing at the mysterious door of my youth, but suddenly, my reverie is broken by my uncle's voice.
“Tarian.” Thane’s call comes from behind me, and when I turn around, I’m immediately aware that Grecia is no longer with him.
“Where is she?” My gaze darts to the dimly lit passage behind him, but it’s empty.
Tension coils in my muscles, and my hands fist at my sides, but Thane merely grins at me.
“You may deny your feelings for that girl, but I’m not blind. Or stupid.” His tone is controlled with a calmness that makes me hyperaware of how alone and vulnerable I am here. I’ve no weapons or backup.
“I don’t have feelings for her,” I tell him, adamant in my confession, but I can hear the lies that lace each word.
Thane must pick up on my attempt at deception because he tilts his head to the side and raises a questioning brow.
“Oh?” he responds. “And you got all torn up when I asked her out to dinner because…?”
He watches me with those dark eyes, waiting for me to admit I want her. But instead, sauntering forward, I lean into his face and regard him with a schooled expression.
“I’m nothing like you,” I tell him. “I don’t take something that’s not freely given.”
Even though I know I’m taunting the beast in his own home, I no longer give a shit. I can take him. I know I can. For her, I’ll fight to the fucking death, as long as she doesn’t know it.
I’m not a hero. I’m not Etienne.
I’m not a bad boy. I’m not Ares.
I’m a monster. Just like my uncle.
“And you want me to believe your cold heart feels nothing for the pretty girl you’ve been traipsing around Italy with.”
Thane shakes his head as he shoves past me and pushes open the door that leads to his office. With its modern, clean lines, accented with silver and glass, the room is nothing like I expect. My younger self would have been most disappointed.
“What game are you playing, Thane?” I ask as I settle in a chair on the opposite side of the desk from where he’s now seated.
I’ve deliberately left the office door open. I’m not sure where Grecia is in the house, but in the event that she needs me, I want to be able to make it out of here and get to her as quickly as possible.
“I want you to know a few things that may not have come to light previously,” he tells me as he picks up a black file from his desk, and flipping it open, he hands me a USB drive from inside.
“What’s this?”
He watches me for a moment, his expression serious as he looks directly into my eyes and utters two words, “The truth.”
Then he sits back in his seat and laces his fingers under his chin.
I want nothing more than to read whatever he’s given me, but first things first.
“Where is Grecia?” I’m tense without her close by, not knowing where she is.
Thane sighs before pushing off his chair and stalking toward a bar that’s positioned behind him. He silently pours two glasses of whiskey, then turning around, he sets one glass down on the desk in front of me and takes a long gulp of the amber liquid from the other.
“Thane, I’m not fucking around. Where is she?”
“Upstairs. She said she felt tired, so I suggested she could lie down in the guest room I’ve had prepared for her.” His words make sense, but also, they confuse me.
“What do you mean you had a room prepared for her?” I question as I get to my feet, picking up the glass and shoving it into his chest. “I don’t drink with fucking liars. Either you tell me what game you’re playing here, or we leave.”
“Do you really want to go before you’ve gotten the answers you’re so desperately seeking, Nephew?”
That query is on point. He’s right, and he knows it. The bastard.
I haven’t always hated my uncle. That came after I was left parentless and he was named my legal guardian. He told me he didn’t want to be burdened with a child and I’d have to fend for myself. Right then and there, I knew he was an asshole.
“Give me the answers I need and let us leave.”
Chuckling, Thane shakes his head, and then finishing his drink, he saunters over to a pair of patio doors and opens them. He steps out onto the paved area beyond, and I follow him, determined to get the answers to my questions.