Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“Nah-uh, Tommy,” she says, her voice firm, fierce, and assertive like a mother bear.
“You said you’d tell me. He threatened me, remember? I think I deserve to know.”
I take my hand from her leg, holding her hand instead. If I grab onto her thick, juicy thigh, I won’t be able to resist doing more, claiming more.
“You do,” I say.
She deserves so much, my Ami. She deserves a loyal, protective man, a happy home, and a whole life. She deserves financial freedom to pursue her career and whatever path she chooses, as long as she’s not in this just for that freedom. She deserves to know the truth.
“It started with a robbery.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Amelia
“A robbery?” I ask as we drive through the city, the traffic finally allowing us to move.
Tommy looks so freaking handsome in his pale blue shirt, the top two buttons undone, showing a tempting slice of his muscular chest. His strong jawline is clean-shaven, and his hair is short and spiky, making him look ever fiercer. His hand is warm on mine, feeling like it belongs.
Tommy nods. “A year after my dad died, I was seventeen.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
He shrugs, but he can’t hide all his feelings from me. Sure, he’s got a gruff exterior up, but there are hints of his emotion in the glinting of his intense eyes, the tightening of his powerful body, and his taut muscles.
“It was inevitable,” he says. “He drank himself to death. I was staying with my uncle, but he was a truck driver, so I was basically on my own. That suited me fine, but I wasn’t a smart kid. I was getting involved in some bad stuff. It was nothing that hurt anybody at first—vandalism, graffiti, that sort of thing. Then Ollie had an idea. I was drunk. It’s no excuse, but I think that’s why I agreed. I was going to be the driver while he robbed a store.”
He bites down, every inch of him streaked in pain.
“I hate that I did that,” he says. “I hate that version of myself.”
“It’s okay. You were a kid.”
“Still, I hate it.”
“What happened next?” I ask.
“Ollie went into the shop with a knife, threatened the owner, and things got out of hand. They fought, and Ollie ended up stabbing him badly. He came running out covered in blood—Ollie, I mean—shouting at me to drive.”
He pauses, his hand so tight on mine it’s almost causing me pain, but only almost, and it’s like he needs this contact and the closeness to handle talking about this.
“He thought we were going to leave the man to bleed out. Fucking idiot. I went inside, saw that the shopkeeper passed out, and called an ambulance. The police arrived, and so I… He’d call it ratting, but I told them the truth. I told them my part in it too. That’s why he called me a liar. He always claimed I was the one who did the stabbing, even though the moron was caught on CCTV holding the knife and covered in blood.
“Ollie went to prison, and they slapped me on the wrist because of my cooperation. After that, I threw myself into business and found I had an aptitude for it. Sometimes, I still can’t believe I have all this—the money and the life.
“It was a wake-up call,” I whisper, gently stroking my hand along his knuckles.
“You did the right thing. That shopkeeper would be dead now if it weren’t for you.”
“It was a fairly busy street. Somebody might have—”
“No,” I interrupt. “He might have died. You saved him. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that part of your life, Tommy. It doesn’t make you look like a bad person. It proves you’re a good one.”
“Thank you,” he whispers huskily, leaning down for a kiss. “That means a lot, coming from my obsession.”
We kiss warmly, intimately, with no hint of lust. It’s a different kind of kiss, like we’re forging a connection or securing the one we’ve already built.
“That’s enough depressing crap, though,” he says after the kiss. “Let’s enjoy the day. Do you want to know what we’re doing first?”
I smile, feeling like we’ve made progress. I’ve pierced his armor, seen the darkness beneath, and discovered it’s nowhere near as dark as I feared. He’s got his past, but it’s like I said. He’s a good man. That bodes well for our future family. No, slow down. Today, sightseeing, that’s all.
“Lay it on me.”
“This is awesome,” I say, gazing down at the city of London as the Eye carries us higher and higher. “I’ve always wanted to do this. My mom said I had to.”
“She’s been to London?” he asks.
We’re alone in the booth with the city beneath us like a toy set. Tommy has his arms wrapped around me from behind, his chin resting on top of my head. Every so often, when he shifts his footing, I can feel the solid length of his desire against my back. Just because we shared a warm kiss in the car doesn’t mean the lust disappeared for good.