Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
I’ve never seen him like this. His eyes are a deep sea of emotion. Anger, disappointment, and hurt swimming right at the surface, but there is more. Some depth, I never knew existed. There is raw fear, and it’s almost as if he was afraid that…
The officer unlocks and opens the metal bar door and motions for us to step out. I’m tempted to dig my feet into the ground because I know when we get back to the island, all hell is going to break loose.
“You.” Julian points at Marie, who’s shaking only intensifies under his powerful gaze. “Be glad I’m not killing you right now. Get out of my sight. I never want to see or hear from you again. Understood?”
“You don’t even–” I start defending her, but Julian cuts me off, his gaze like a razor, cutting through the air.
“And you, shut up. I’ll deal with you later.” The dismissive tone and raw anguish in his voice are like an arrow being slingshot through my heart. I’m in physical pain, and I’m not talking about my hand or face, I’m talking about my insides twisting with pain.
“Do you understand?” he asks Marie again.
“Yes.” Marie nods her head furiously.
I give her one final squeeze before she rushes past Julian and disappears from view. I step up to Julian, torn between wanting to slap him and wanting to fall into his embrace.
The police officer either got paid off, or he doesn’t care about the threat Julian just made because he simply locks the cell back up and walks away while whistling.
Julian grabs my injured hand, and I wince at the touch. He starts walking me out of the police station without another word. No one stops us or says anything to us, and I wonder how much money this little charade cost him.
A black SUV is waiting at the curb, and we climb inside without a word. Only when we are settled, and the car starts moving, do I get the courage to speak.
“I wasn’t leaving you if that’s what you think.”
“It sure as hell looked like it,” Julian snaps, not even looking at me. “How long did you plan this?”
“I didn’t!”
“Where were you going?”
“I wasn’t going anywhere!” My voice rises with each word.
“You were going back to your father.” He answers his own question, and I’m tempted to tell him he’s an idiot.
“Are you even listening to me?” I growl.
The car stops, and I don’t think I’ve gotten any bit of information into Julian’s brain. Looking out the window, I discover we are back at the pier. Like a child, he grabs my hand and drags me out of the car. I let him lead me onto a boat and sit down next to him, mostly because there isn’t anywhere else for me to go.
We’re both angry, right now, and if we’re going to make it through this, we need to let each other cool off first. Using all the effort I have, I keep my mouth shut the rest of the way back to the island. I look out at the water and let it calm me, hoping that Julian will be calm by the time we get back to the beach house.
The boat drops us off and turns right back around, leaving Julian and me alone on the beach. My lips part, and I’m about to say something when he leans down and scoops me up, throwing me over his shoulder like I’m a sack of potatoes.
I truly don’t understand his need to assert his alphaness on me.
“Julian.” I sigh. “Please, listen to me.”
He stays quiet, walking inside and heading straight to the bedroom. Kicking the door in, the wood cracks and gives beneath his foot. So much for him calming down. It seems the silence has only made things worse. Walking into the room and over the door’s splintered pieces, he throws me onto the bed.
I bounce off the mattress and land in the middle of a pile of fluffed pillows. All I can hear is the rush of my own blood in my ears and feel the heavy thump of my heart in my chest. Fear and anger collide inside of me, and I’m not sure which one is going to win out.
“Julian…” I start again, but it’s clear that my words fall onto deaf ears.
He’s a volcano, seconds away from erupting, and there is nothing I can do but sit back and watch, hoping the fire inside of him doesn’t burn me too badly. Spinning around with a loud roar, he swings his arms and hits the closest wall. His fists go straight through the sheetrock like he is the hulk. He pulls out his fist, just to hit the wall again a few inches to the right.
All I can do is stare, knowing that if I get up and try and stop him, things will only get worse. The dresser becomes his next target. Gripping it by the sides with an iron grip, he flips the whole thing over and kicks it to the side like trash. His muscles bulge, his body oozes rage. One by one, he attacks every piece of furniture inside the room until the whole space is nothing but debris and destroyed beyond repair. Pieces of wood and drywall fall like glitter around us.