Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Is this a dead end?” I blurted out the question without thinking it through, planting a seed of doubt in his already uneasy mind.
His stare lingered on my eyes for a long time. “You’re all of the above.”
My eyes narrowed, feeling slighted even though his words seemed gentle.
“You were the detour that made me pull over that night. In the pouring rain. All because I wanted to keep an innocent woman out of the path of destruction. It was a one-way road…and I plan on staying on that road until it ends.”
Chapter 3
Theo
I shut the door of my truck and stepped onto the sidewalk.
That was when my phone started to ring in my pocket.
I pulled it out and checked the screen.
Blocked number.
I gave a sigh before I took the call. “I expected to hear from you sooner.”
Bolton was quiet on the other end, probably pissed off that I ruined the surprise. “The smoke burned my lungs. Was in the hospital for a week.”
“Sorry to hear that,” I said sarcastically. “I hoped you were dead.”
He was quiet.
“I need to learn to lower my expectations.”
“I want to talk.”
“What are we doing now? Sexting?” I curbed my rage as much as possible. When I found out what he’d done to Astrid, the dormant bear inside me had awoken like it’d missed spring and went straight into summer. My knuckles longed to crush his cheekbones. I wanted to make him gag on my gun before I pulled the trigger. All the hatred I’d felt for myself had been redirected to him.
“You know what I mean.”
“If we’re in the same room together, I’ll kill you.”
“Not if you ever want Killian’s bones back.”
“You already told me who has them.”
“And now they’re mine,” he said. “And I’ll never tell you where I’ve buried them unless we speak.”
I was tired of my brother’s remains being used as a baseball in a game of catch. I was tired of them being used as leverage. His spirit was gone from this world, but the bones that had supported his body deserved peace too. Deserved respect and dignity. “She told me I can kill you, Bolton.” The second the opportunity presented itself, I would take it. I didn’t have to be restrained by Astrid’s complicated feelings. When she said she didn’t love him anymore, I believed her. Because only hate could make you wish death upon someone else.
There was a long pause over the phone. “I know.”
Instead of going to the Underground and then home afterward, I stepped into the light that shone on the statue of David, the counterfeit one posted for the public, and looked over the cobblestones to the other street.
Cars pulled up, and then Bolton emerged, dressed in all black, his fair face marked with scars that hadn’t quite healed yet. He had the same arrogance to his stance, the same insufferable cockiness in his eyes, even though he was the one who’d lost everything—and I’d gained it.
I assumed Astrid was asleep in her bedroom, disappointed that I hadn’t come home or had gone straight to bed without speaking to her. I chose to keep her in the dark about this because Bolton truly was my problem now. I’d made him my problem the moment I’d shown up in Hummers and bulletproof vests. The moment I’d burned down his villa and everything inside it. The moment I’d taken his wife and came inside her.
I wasn’t sure what the fuck he had to be cocky about.
He stopped ten feet away from me, a man with boyish looks, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was lean and limber because he didn’t need to be strong when his opponents didn’t know he was coming. He was no match for me physically. But he was fast with a blade. I would give him that.
I had my guys with me, and he had his. Guys with automatic rifles by the cars, snipers posted on roofs. We might as well whip out our dicks and our measuring tapes too. I waited for him to speak first since this bullshit was his idea.
But all he did was stare at me.
“It seems like you want me to kill you.” I left behind the tactical vest, so my body was vulnerable to blades and gunfire.
“You kill me, and your brother is forgotten forever.”
“He’ll only be forgotten when I’m dead. And a little pussy like you isn’t going to kill me.”
His eyes flashed at the word little. Like he was insecure about the differences in our sizes—as he should be. I could brag about the way Astrid touched me and fucked me and cried for me when I made her come, but I kept it to myself out of respect for her. I’d never been the guy to fuck and brag, and I wouldn’t start now just because I despised this motherfucker. Astrid was far more important to me than a momentary jab.