Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
She’d always had this look, like she was keeping a secret, something she knew would destroy me. I thought back on their thread and the date they’d been sent.
“And while with me!” My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms to keep from shaking. “I saw the texts, Wilder. Those were recent.”
“Mint.” He took another step towards me.
“This looks bad. I know, baby, but it isn’t what you’re thinking. I would never cheat on you. I’m a little insulted you’d go there.”
I silently started counting to ten.
I didn’t make it to five.
“Are you trying to gaslight me? You’re a little insulted? I saw the text messages. I saw them with my goddamn eyes!”
“And I can promise you that what you saw and what the truth is, isn’t remotely the same. It’s…complicated,” he explained in such a calm manner I wanted to scream.
I let out a hollow, bitter laugh. “Oh, it’s complicated? What’s next, this isn’t what it looks like? Did you memorize the Dumbass Cheater’s Handbook for all the classic excuses?”
“I can’t say anything right now that will make this better other than that those texts were nothing more than work.”
I felt my mind spin, and then my voice rose, loud enough that the entire penthouse could hear. Not that it mattered. He and his dipshit friends owned the whole top floor.
“Work?” I echoed, anger and disbelief mixing into something dark. “How the fuck does your job have anything to do with screwing other women, Wilder? Huh? Is it some kind of status thing? You get a promotion or extra stocks for every girl you line up?”
He continued to stare at me, his expression eerily blank.
“Don’t just stand there. Help me make this make sense because all I see is you with a backup harem.” I ran a hand over my face. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”
“Stop,” he warned lowly.
Did this motherfucker just tell me to stop?
“You know what?” I pointed toward the glass doors leading to his balcony. “We should have this conversation outside. You can explain how ‘work’ makes you a total piece of shit while you enjoy the view. You might get so carried away; that you’ll slip.”
He grinned, the kind of dark, twisted smile that didn’t belong in a conversation like this. His eyes raked over me, and he tilted his head, that grin widening. “You’re gorgeous when you’re murderous.” His voice was close to a purr.
“What the…what the fuck is wrong with you?” I was completely thrown, every warning bell in my head going off at once. I needed to get the hell away from him before I ended up as a highlight on Snapped or a true crime podcast.
“You know what. It doesn’t matter. The before, during, after—it all blurs together. I’m done, Wilder.”
I snatched my phone and key fob from the dresser, my mind racing. My things were scattered everywhere in this penthouse. Clothes in his drawers, my birth control in the bathroom, my favorite shampoo in the shower. I couldn’t stay to gather them, not when I felt like I was about to either fall apart or make headlines as a murder statistic. I turned to make a break for the door, but he was suddenly right there, looming over me, backing me against the wall, and caging me in.
“Done?” he questioned lowly. “I told you on our first date this was forever. Till we’re sharing a grave and whatever life comes next.”
Yeah. That was a blazing red flag I ignored like a colorblind fool.
“Pretty sure you having a dirty dick makes that null and void, you fucking psycho,” I damn near hissed.
He laughed. "Psycho? I think you almost meant it this time."
I glared, tallying up yet another red flag I ignored. If I sat and took stock of all of them, I could plant a whole damn forest.
His grin widened. "I love that you see me for who I really am. That’s what makes you so perfect for me, Mint."
I stared at him, my chest heaving, at a complete loss for words. How the hell could anyone say something like that and sound so damn sure of it? Oh, right. Wilder Carson.
“Was perfect you,” I couldn’t help but correct.
“You think I’d give you up for anything or anyone? Have you forgotten how obsessed I am with you?” He leaned back slightly, and his expression became contemplative. “I thought I did a good job showing it. I’ll have to do better.”
His audacity broke something loose in me.
I shoved him, my hands hitting his chest with everything I had, my anger surging to the surface. He stepped back, not because I’d managed to move him, but because he let me. The maddening grin never left his lips, his body a wall of control, radiating calm.
“You’re insane,” I spat, my hands trembling from the effort not to swing on him.