Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
I don’t hear anything else. They either lower their voices or go into a different room. Maybe I should sneak down the stairs and listen. It’s not fair for them to lie to me, though I can’t possibly think what they could lie to me about.
By the time I decide to sneak downstairs, it’s too late. I can hear the stairs creaking with Dad’s footsteps. I’m sure it’s Dad and not Jacob because Jacob would make more noise. He’s so big, clothed in hard muscle. I need to stop putting that man on a pedestal. He left me like I was nothing to him.
It was for the best, right? For Dad?
Dad knocks on the door. “Emma, are you awake?”
“Yeah,” I say, swiveling in my computer chair. “You can come in.”
Dad walks into the room and sits on the edge of the bed, gripping his hands together and looking at me with a frown. Then he forces a smile onto his face. He’s never been very good at lying to me. That’s a one-way street since I’ve lied to him about my crush for as long as I can remember.
With his phony smile, he says, “I was thinking we should take a trip.”
“A trip? Why?”
“Why not?” he grins, upbeat and artificial. It’s best if we don’t tell Emma the truth.
“Okay, but why?” I ask. “This seems random.”
“Jacob has a place in Maine,” Dad says. “Thought it might be nice to see some snow. It’s like a winter wonderland there. What do you think? You said you’ve wanted to do more with your year than work at the restaurant and paint.”
That’s true. I did say that. I’ve taken a year off after high school to earn some money and figure out what I want to do with my life.
I try to get myself to tell Dad I heard what he and Jacob were talking about. I know this is all part of a big lie. Dad has always tried so hard, especially after the divorce. That’s the reason I stay here so often. He never wanted us to drift apart just because he and Mom did.
There’s something else, too, in the tightness of his mouth and his pleading eyes. It’s like he’s desperate for me to buy the lie. It’s like he’s trying to protect me from something. I wonder if it has anything to do with his or Jacob’s work.
“A winter wonderland?” I say with a smile.
Because what right do I really have to criticize my father for withholding the truth? What right do I have to question his explanations, excuses, and secrets after what I’ve done?
Or maybe I relish the idea of being in a snowy cabin with Jacob. However, that’s pretty stupid because he didn’t treat me respectfully last time. It was a two-way street that got me steamy as hell at the moment. Yet afterward, kneeling there with his come sliding down my throat, staring at his back, I felt so cheap, so down about myself. It’s how I deserved to feel after what I did, but it still hurt.
“That sounds great, Dad.”
He smiles, relieved that I’ve bought this frankly absurd lie, relieved I’m not going to question it. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t want to lie to me. He’s too good for that. I wish I could say the same about myself.
“When do we leave?” I ask.
The smile falters. “I was thinking we could get going tonight.”
Tonight? This is just transparently ridiculous at this point. He has to know I’ll find this suspicious, but he’s got that same hopeful look on his face. If this had happened before the kiss and touching, I would’ve demanded to know what was happening. Instead, I nod and force a smile. I can tell he knows I’ve got questions, but I’m choosing to push them down for now.
“I better get packing, then.”
CHAPTER THREE
JACOB
Ifeel like a different man from the one who attended Emma’s graduation party. That Jacob was savage in taking what I thought was mine. I didn’t stop to think. So I’ve been spending the past six months diving deep into the world of perverts, devils, and evil bastards, leading several operations and taking several lives.
I thought Rafael almost had me. I went rogue chasing his operation. I almost got handed my ass by the big bosses upstairs, but I managed to escape with my job and my life. My body stings from the punishment he dished out.
All he wanted was a response, and he got one when he showed me that photo of Emma. She wasn’t the focal point of the picture or his threat. Mike was, but I couldn’t stop staring at Emma, her beautiful features. I had no idea there was a scumbag out there who’d happily take her life.
Sitting behind the wheel of my pickup, drumming my fingers against the steering wheel, I wait for Mike and Emma to emerge from the house. I don’t think Rafael would be stupid enough to do this, but he’s got a reputation for being petty and personal. Some men do what he does because they enjoy their product, the sick fucks. Others do it for purely financial reasons. Then there are the ones like Rafael, who do it for the feeling of power it gives them.