Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Oddly, for a man who’s used to sitting in bespoke suits behind a desk, I’m getting a lot of satisfaction from the backbreaking work of organizing our storage vault.
The idea didn’t come to me out of the blue as I’ve been wanting to get in for years to root around in the ancestral documents and collectibles. I’ve always been so proud to be of Mardraggon lineage and there’s a wealth of history in this room. But while I’ve always wanted to do this, it was clearly never a priority. I never seemed to have the time and what little free time I did have, I didn’t want to be doing sweaty physical labor like this.
But it’s exactly the type of activity that seems to bring me some measure of peace. Because when I’m concentrating on my work here—going through boxes, organizing, cataloging, moving them—I’m not thinking about Kat.
It’s been three days since I dropped her off at her home with the intention of leaving her firmly behind. As of now, I’m sticking to it.
Doesn’t mean I didn’t waver though, especially that very next day when Kat showed up on my doorstep as I was getting ready to head to the office. She caught me off guard, moving into me to place a blistering kiss on my mouth.
One I’m ashamed to say I returned for way too long before I got ahold of myself and pushed her gently off. She tried to step into me again and damn her to hell, she whispered dirty words. I knew her game though… get me in bed and she could talk to me after she had me boneless from pleasure.
I knew if I let her get me into bed, my resolve to stay away from her would crumble, so I did the only thing I could.
I lied to her and I did it cruelly. “I’m not interested, Kat.”
She narrowed her eyes, motioned to her body, slamming in a pair of short shorts and a tight T-shirt. “You’re not interested in this.”
Christ, it killed me and I almost couldn’t pull it off, but I managed to keep my tone unaffected. “It was good while it lasted but it’s run its course.”
I braced for her to fight or at the very least slap me, but instead she looked at me with sad eyes. “Still the same asshole you were eight years ago.”
She turned and walked off. I watched as she got into her Jeep and drove away. I wanted to scream at her that I wasn’t that same asshole and that what I was doing was to both our benefit, but I stood mute as her taillights disappeared down the drive.
I’d like to say each day has gotten easier, but it hasn’t. So I’ll continue to work long hours at the office, leaving my father’s legacy behind and building my own. I’ll spend my nights working through the storage vault, not once regretting the empty space where the Shadow Reserve used to sit because I’d have given up this entire company to make sure Kat was safe. Then I’ll go home too exhausted to think and fall into a dreamless sleep that has been my sanctuary for the last three nights.
“Excuse me, Mr. Mardraggon.”
I turn to the vault’s open door to see a security guard there. We employ several to walk the campus at night, which covers over four hundred forty acres.
I don’t recognize this one but that’s not unusual. I’m not typically here at night and rarely during the day, my work being conducted from the Frankfort offices. “What’s up?” I ask, once again wiping a bead of sweat threatening to roll down my temple.
“There’s a Mr. Ethan Blackburn here to see you.”
I glance past the guard’s shoulder and see Kat’s brother standing there. He raises a hand tentatively. “Sorry to come unannounced.”
Sighing, I wave him in and thank the guard, who slips away unobtrusively. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, you’d know if you bothered to answer my calls or texts,” Ethan says as he walks over to a shelf of collectibles. He picks up an old paperweight, examines it and sets it back down gently. “Why are you avoiding me?”
“Because I’m not going to discuss your sister with you,” I reply, moving back to another set of shelves where I’d emptied a box of documents to sift through. I thumb a few pages but I can’t concentrate on them. However, if I ignore Ethan long enough, maybe he’ll leave.
“I want to discuss Sylvie,” Ethan says, and that gets my attention.
I glance at him as I point out, “I thought my email to you day before yesterday was clear. I’m going to have myself removed as co-trustee so you don’t need to have my approval on anything.”
“I’m talking about working out some type of visitation schedule with you,” Ethan replies.