Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“I’m going to take a walk to clear my head. You can sit with her and have some time to yourselves. If your brother comes back, let him know I just went for a walk.”
I step out and walk aimlessly around the hospital until I end up in front of the viewing window of the nursery. So many cute little innocent faces.
I remember when AJ was this small. He brought me so much comfort when I was lost and alone. This world can be so cruel.
Kid did nothing to anyone and she’s lying in that bed. You don’t do things like that to people like Kid, all she ever wants is to help, to be there for people. I hate whoever did this so much.
However, when I look at these innocent little babies, I don’t know how there’s so much hate in the world. We all start out pure, good, a blessing. I want my son to grow up and be a good person.
I’m going to make it my business to teach AJ not to lie, steal or hurt people. I’ll show him if he wants something, he should work for it. If he doesn’t want to do the work and do it right, tough shit.
That means it’s not meant to be his. If Leo is right and this was some guy, he needed to work for my friend and her love. Not almost beat her to death.
“You ever thought about having one?”
“I have a son already,” I reply, not turning to the person.
I’m still lost in my thoughts as I answer absently. I can hear the pride in my voice though. I wouldn’t change anything about having AJ.
“That’s funny. All he used to talk about was having a family with you and taking over Bridge Lake.”
I knit my brows before turning to the person next to me. “Zander?”
“So you do remember me? Do you remember my brother because he couldn’t forget about you,” he snarls.
“All he wanted was to impress you. If he could impress you, then maybe you’d introduce him to your dad. Because in this fucked-up place, even if you have money, you’re nobody unless you’re from the elite founding families.”
“What are you talking about?” I hiss low as his rising voice draws attention.
“Let’s go. You’re coming with me. This ends now.”
He grabs my arm and tugs me forward. I go to flip him on his back and get him off of me, but he shoves a gun into my side. I stiffen and halt my temper. I can’t leave AJ and Ant without me.
“Don’t make a fucking scene or I’ll shoot.”
Damn it. I left my bag upstairs in Kid’s room. My phone and gun are inside it. This is so not like me.
Frustrated, I try to keep up with his long strides as best I can. He’s dragging me along at this point. My mind is racing for what to do to get out of this situation, but nothing comes to me before we get down to the ground level, where he maneuvers me out the back doors.
He shoves me into a car parked not too far from the loading dock of the hospital. I look around quickly for something to use as a weapon, but there’s nothing but trash in here. The car stinks and the console looks sticky.
He climbs behind the wheel and looks around before he ducks to look out the windshield nervously. When he starts the car, it chokes a few times before it turns over. I want to punch the dash when it starts for him.
“Good, we got away without your watchdogs seeing us,” he snarls as he slowly drives through the hospital parking lot.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I told him not to run that race that night,” he begins to ramble as he pulls out into traffic. “I had a feeling things were going to go bad. He just wouldn’t listen. All he could focus on was how to get you back.”
I roll my eyes. Seth was in bed with one of my high school rivals the same night we broke up. I know because she was leaving out of his dorm room when I showed up to get my stuff.
“He thought letting your cousin race was going to win him some kind of points. He was so fucking excited when she checked in. Once she entered, there was no way I was going to talk him into canceling.”
I still regret not telling Ven about the breakup. I didn’t think she liked Seth. I figured she wouldn’t care.
He continues as I watch the street signs to see where we’re headed. I need to find a way to stall so I can figure out what he wants with me.
“It was all fucked from the beginning. I was sick to my stomach when we saw you show up with that asshole Knight. My brother was devastated.”