Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry. I really am.” I stand up and wrap my arms around her. She feels so tiny in my arms. Wasn’t always like that.
She pushes me away, her voice cracking with sobs. “Why, Huff? Why not just tell me the truth?”
My original plan was to die for real. Kyle was the one who had me injected with Morris’s street drug to prevent my heart from imploding, not that he was sure it would work. When I woke, he gave me the guilt trip of my life (i.e., How could I even consider dying after all Mom and Dad went through when they lost Joy?) Then he told me about all the people who wanted to get their hands on me. Even the government. That was how he convinced me to play dead. Now I wonder if he kept me alive for another reason. He clearly sees my condition as an opportunity.
“Honest, Riv? I would do anything to keep you safe, so that’s what I did.”
The pain in her warm brown eyes is almost too much. “But you didn’t keep me safe. You hurt me more than anyone ever has. I loved you.”
Loved? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised after what I put her through. What’s even worse is that I’m going to have to hurt her all over again.
“You shouldn’t have come here, Riv.” I press my hand to her soft cheek.
“So that’s it? I travel all this way, switch planes five times, take three cars, wear a disguise, and walk ten miles—all without a phone so I can’t be tracked—just to come and see you. Now you just want me to leave?”
No phone? Rough. “I’ve never been happier to see anyone, Riv. And if it were up to me, you’d never leave, but you don’t understand the situation.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” she snaps.
She already knows I’m alive, so that cat’s out of the bag. But how’s she going to feel when I tell her I’m planning to kill Morris and then off myself for the betterment of humanity? I’m a weapon that shouldn’t exist.
“You don’t need to get mixed up in all this shit, River.”
“So you think I can’t handle it, that I’m just some,” she throws her hands in the air, “weak woman who needs a big strong guy to protect her. That’s what you actually think of me.”
“No. I think you’re…amazing. And strong and intelligent and super-hot.”
What the hell am I saying? I shouldn’t be reminding myself of all the reasons I fell in love with her.
I continue, “But there’s nothing you can say to make me put you in harm’s way. You need to stay away from me.”
She stares silently, whisking away a stray tear. “So, basically, you love me, but it’s not enough.”
I’m planning to die soon so she can live in a safer world, so yeah. It’s not enough. “My love for you isn’t more important than your life. But what were you expecting me to say when you showed up here? Did you think I’d beg for forgiveness and ask you to take me back? Or that we’d find a way to be together now that you know I’m still alive?”
She looks away.
Oh. So that was what she expected. I’m a dick. The last thing I want is to make her think she’s not worth fighting for. She needs to understand that I value her life and happiness over my own.
I take her soft hand. I want to say something to make it all better, but all I’ve got is the truth she’s asking for. Maybe I shouldn’t come clean, but she’s right about one thing: I have to treat her like the strong woman she is.
“Morris perma-lit the Eiffel Tower on fire,” I blurt out, “and he held Paris hostage so that I’d give him my blood. He’s almost figured out how to make more of me, and now he has what he needs to complete the job. And worst of all, Kyle wants him to succeed. Our government wants an army of Huffs.”
Her eyes go wide. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Haven’t they ever seen The Bourne Identity or Deadpool? The whole super-soldier thing never hunts. Always goes sideways.”
“Right? That’s what I said.” See. This is why I love her.
“You have to stop Morris, Huff.”
“I know.”
“So what’s your plan?” She seems a little too excited about all this.
“I think Morris wants him and me to be allies.” I leave out the detail that I negotiated for some formula for River so she could be my sidekick because that was just a ploy. I’d never let her take that garbage drug.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure because he also wants to sell the formula to the highest bidder. Oh, and he took some of his developmental concoction, so he’s ripped and completely nuts.”