Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Tears spilled from her eyes. She seemed fragile in that moment—the same woman who’d bawled over my hospital bed before time mended my physical wounds and she’d slowly slipped away.
Mom hovered a palm over my cheek.
I closed my eyes, fighting the disgust it ignited in me. The intense nausea was now a dull discomfort, thanks to Farrow.
“Please, give Eileen a chance.” Mom squeezed my shoulder through my shirt, too focused on her goal to realize what she’d done. “I’ve booked you a weekend in the Hamptons. The house is ready. She’ll be there, waiting for you. Just try for me.”
I closed my eyes, realizing I needed Eileen to break this off for my mother to digest it.
Fine. I’d do the Hamptons.
But it wouldn’t end in wedding bells.
“If I do this,” I growled, “will you set me free?”
“Yes.” Mom clutched her handkerchief. “Yes, I promise.”
“Very well. The Hamptons it is.”
Ari:
Earth to Fae—please, send a sign of life.
Dallas:
Low-key tempted to hurl ass over there and see if she’s okay.
Dallas:
I haven’t heard from her in a while.
Ari:
Define a while.
Dallas:
Three hours.
Ari:
Hmm.
Ari:
I’ve had arguments about the best Milkis flavor that have lasted longer than that.
Dallas:
We’re kind of co-dependent right now.
Dallas:
She even helped me shave my legs the other day.
Farrow:
I’m alive.
Farrow:
(Unfortunately.)
Dallas:
How do we know it’s really you and not someone else pretending you’re alive so they can sell off your internal organs on the black market?
Ari:
DALLAS WHATEVER-YOUR-MIDDLE-NAME-IS COSTA.
Ari:
Step away from the true-crime category on Netflix.
Dallas:
I’m just being a worried citizen.
Dallas:
Ari, ask her something only Farrow would know.
Ari:
Who did I kiss in the tenth grade that I swore you to secrecy about because he had a mullet and snacked on raw onion in public?
Farrow:
Lee Ji-sub.
Ari:
WHY DID YOU TELL?
Farrow:
YOU LITERALLY ASKED.
Ari:
You’re fired as my BFF.
Ari:
Just kidding.
Ari:
I could never replace you…
Ari:
And not for my lack of trying.
Farrow:
Lol.
Dallas:
Okay, this lol was weak AF.
Dallas:
Are you okay?
Farrow:
Andras just dumped my ass because I wouldn’t give up on my lawsuit with Vera.
Dallas:
Dafuq does he have to do with it?
Ari:
I second Dallas’ question.
Farrow:
I don’t know, but I’m officially without a coach and without an Olympic medal.
Farrow:
After the media scandal Vera has treated me to, I’m toast.
Farrow:
I can’t believe it’s over.
Dallas:
Shit, Fae. I’m sorry.
Dallas:
Hold on. I’m coming with margaritas and all the snacks.
Ari:
FaceTime me when you get to her.
Farrow:
I’ll be fine. It was only a dream.
Dallas:
You can’t get what you want without dreaming it first. Otherwise, how would you even know you want it?
It shouldn’t have surprised me that Zach owned an armored vehicle in every state.
His personal driver zipped past lush golf courses and gigantic beach houses stretched across acres of white sand.
I stared out the window, hugging my duffel bag to my chest, my face undoubtedly bone-white. I didn’t care. Nothing mattered much after my conversation with Andras two days ago.
The gray skies cracked like an egg, rain pounding on the windows in thick sheets. Mother Nature was bawling her eyes out. I wanted to do the same, struggling to keep my stoic expression intact.
Zach flicked the A/C vent, so it didn’t blow on my bare arms. “Is there anything you’d like to see in the Hamptons, Octi?”
He’d made it a point to sit as close to me as possible.
Still, I’d ignored him the entire duration of the trip, plane ride included.
“Yes,” I hissed out. “I’d like to see your mansion from the rearview of my Prius after this is all done and dusted.”
If the rain bothered him, he didn’t show it.
He is healing, day by day, while your dreams slip further and further away.
Zach reclined in his leather seat, stretching out on the leg rest. “What did I do now?”
“Bringing your side piece to a vacation with your fiancée is low, even by your standards.”
“You’re not my side piece.” His eyes clung to my face in a way that made me happy and miserable at the same time. “And you need to stop with the Eileen thing.”
“Why?”
“Because… it’s complicated.”
“Seems pretty simple to me.”
“I need time.”
I snorted, whipping my head to look at him. “For what?”
“To figure things out.” He tugged the silky strands of his hair. “With you by my side.”
I averted my gaze to the window again, shaking my head. I wasn’t even mad at Zach. He’d made the rules clear from the start, and I’d agreed to them.
No. The object of my anger currently sat three-hundred plus miles away in Potomac.
Andras.
Andras Horvath with his ridiculous, bizarre ultimatum.
“Octi.” Zach grabbed my hand and deposited it in his lap, toying with my fingers. The gesture hurt more than it soothed me. It reminded me this would all be over in a few weeks, maybe even days. “What’s eating at you? Is it Andras? I can find you a better coach.”
“No. I sobered up from that fantasy,” I admitted as the car pulled past towering hedges and approached a French limestone mansion. “I’m going to continue fencing for the fun of it, but that’s it.”