Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Or?” she hedges.
“Or we can make him pay like we intended when this whole thing started. We can destroy him once and for all.”
I keep my face neutral while she mulls it over. I’d like to say that if she chooses option one, I’ll go along with it, but the truth is, I’m not sure I can let go of the hatred I’ve felt toward Evan so easily. I would try for Raven, though, if it’s truly what she wants.
“I feel like if we let this go, he’ll only try again, and I don’t want to live our lives constantly worried about what shit he’s going to pull.” She looks up at me and takes a steadying breath. “Dylan?”
“Yes, Darling?” I say, praying she’s about to give the answer I’m hoping for.
“Destroy him.”
“Fucking hell,” I murmur.
“What?” she asks, truly not realizing.
“You’re even sexier when you want to burn the world down,” I tell her and steal her lips for a kiss before having her under me, moaning my name like she should have been doing an hour ago.
CHAPTER 25
RAVEN
Ilook over at Dylan nervously, still not sure if I made the right decision in inviting him to tonight’s party. This is basically ripping him from the relative safety of his penthouse and throwing him in a pit with feral lions… or lionesses, I suppose, since I’m thinking specifically of Maggie and Ami.
My hands are clammy at the thought of Dylan seeing this side of my life, being a part of it and possibly us being… more. I try not to make it a big deal and I try not to overthink. But the fact that I pushed him like that, called his bluff and showed my ass and he still wants me… I don’t deserve it, and my feelings for him have somehow grown even more. I feel like I’m perched on the edge and he alone has the power to push me over.
I love him.
It’s so damn obvious to me. I love Dylan Sharpe. I know we’re different, though. Our lives are nothing alike.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” I ask him, pulling his attention away from the passing cars on the street outside. Thankfully, Vince, his driver, is too busy with the traffic as we head toward our destination because Dylan looks at me with amusement lighting his eyes because the PDA is a bit much. I lean into his side, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. His touch and warmth are a soothing balm and reassure me.
He answers with a smirk on his face although his tone is deadpan. “It might be a bit… well, to steal one of Ami’s words… wooo!” I can’t help but laugh when his brows jump up his forehead at the odd sound coming from me. This man’s heard me moan, cry, gasp, and more, but a ‘wooo’ is apparently the shocking oddity.
With his sleeves rolled up, his shirt unbuttoned, and a five o’clock shadow, he looks a touch more rugged today, and I freaking love this look on him. Laid back but handsome.
His answering smile is full of confidence when he leans back to look at me. “I’m excited to meet your friends and happy to do anything with you. Even if it involves ‘woooing’.” He says it flatly, like the concept of fun is foreign to him, but I know that’s not true. He’s absolutely fun, just in a very different way from Maggie and Ami.
I try to relax, warmed by his words and rarely seen dry sense of humor.
The night he found me in his office, I was scared and confused and not sure if I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I warred with myself on whether to just ignore it, like I did with my instincts when Evan cheated on me, or to get to the bottom of it. It very well could have ended my career, but when push came to shove, I needed to know that Dylan was the man I felt he was in my heart. Even if it meant costing me my job. Money comes and goes, but if I’m falling for a man, sleeping with him and giving him everything I have, I want to get to the bottom of every issue. I hadn’t ‘done’ anything, but my struggle with reconciling what I knew of Dylan personally and who he was professionally with who he might’ve been years ago had me fighting a battle between my head and heart.
Our talk that night has led to so much more. It’s like a boundary we didn’t know existed has been lifted. No secrets, no hiding, just the two of us wanting each other and not giving a fuck about anything else.
I’m not sure what Dylan is doing to handle Evan, nor do I want to know. Whatever it is, I trust him to do it right, make it hurt Evan, and be technically legal while a bit morally gray, which I’m okay with. I appreciate that he’s willing to do what I’m not, both because of my own character and my current position at the bottom of the power structure between the three of us. I feel like Dylan’s my protective guard dog, one who’s willing to bite back because he's been directly harmed by our attacker too.