Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Considering everything, I’d say he’s doing alright,” Harrison tells me, a longtime friend of my father’s. “He’s torn up. I know what he did was wrong, but he wasn’t expecting it to end like this. You know how much he loves your mom and sister.”
I press my lips into a hard line, not missing the fact that he skipped right over me. It’s no secret my father and I have struggled to get along over the years, but he’s still my old man. Seeing him facing the firing squad isn’t going to be easy. Deep down in his shallow heart, I know he cares for me, despite his need to deny it. To him, I’m nothing more than an heir to follow on his family name and maintain our position within Empire’s ranks. Had I not been born, he would have kept trying until he’d produced a son.
“Yeah, Mom and Cara aren’t taking it so well either,” I tell him, wincing at the memory of breaking the news to them last night. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It fucking gutted me having to break their hearts like that. “I’m sure you’ll have Mom breaking down your door soon enough. She won’t let him go without a fight.”
“I know,” Harrison says fondly. “But it’s not my call. I just hold the keys.”
“Yeah, I know,” I mutter, letting out a heavy sigh as I continue following him down a set of rickety, old stairs, deeper into the darkness below. It’s chilling, and as I hear clanging coming from the cells at the bottom, a shiver sails down my spine.
I’m not one to shy away from this shit. Hell, the things I’ve done and the people I’ve killed would have put me in these cells a million times over, but there’s no denying just how fucked up this place is.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I consider letting it ring out, when the fleeting thought of Oakley crosses my mind. I haven’t got the same kind of attachment to her that Dalton and Cross do, not that Cross is willing to admit it, but the thought of her being taken and hidden away hasn’t sat right with me. Hell, none of it is sitting right with me, but I wouldn’t dare admit that out loud. I know things aren’t great between me and Zade right now, but it would kill him to learn I haven’t got his back. Don’t get me wrong, I want him to succeed. I want him to rise in power, I just wish there were a different way. Now that I’ve gotten to know Oakley just a bit . . . fuck. This isn’t what I want for her. I feel like there’s still so much to learn, so much more to explore with her.
Fuck. I sound like a pansy-ass bitch.
Zade warned us not to get attached, and there was a good fucking reason for that.
Considering there’s no way my father will escape his trial, he’ll be executed within days, meaning I’ll be the one standing in his place as Zade completes his ritual. I’ll be right there watching over her as my best friend plunges his knife into her chest and breaks her fucking bones. I’ll watch her blood rush over her body and splatter against the ground as Zade digs his hands into her open chest and takes her beating heart right into the palms of his hands.
Her screams. Her cries. Her agony.
I’ll be made to witness every fucking second.
Bile rises in my throat, and I push the thought aside as I pull my phone out of my pocket, surprised I have enough cell service to still receive texts. Though I’m sure as I hit the cells at the bottom, that service will quickly fade away.
Lighting up my screen, I find a text from my sister, and for a moment, I consider swiping away the notification and waiting to check it until I’m through here, but I wouldn’t put anything past Cara. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s already found out about my meeting with Dad and wanted me to pass along a message. She’s just that good.
She’s not as deep in the world of Empire as I am. She never really wanted anything to do with it. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have all the right contacts in all the right places.
Opening her text, I quickly scan over it, preparing myself to be absolutely gutted by whatever message she wants me to tell Dad.
Cara - Hey asshole, where the fuck is Oakley? I know you’ve done something with her. She hasn’t been home in days. But seriously, if you guys aren’t planning on having me watch her at the apartment anymore, do I really need to stay here? This place gives me the ick. Do you have any idea how many college booty calls have probably happened within these walls? Plus, there’s a strange smell coming from the shower drain and it makes me wanna hurl!