Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
And all I can do is pray the past will stay buried.
BONUS SCENE
DRAKE
Being a father suits me. At least that’s what my wife and partner tell me. I didn’t want to bring another Savage into the world. Watching my father commit evil acts all my life, I didn’t want to allow my bloodline to continue on. But with the little one looking up at me right now, I can’t imagine life without her.
Hope is ours—River’s, Caia’s, and mine. She’s the spitting image of her mother. With those pretty eyes staring up at me, I know I could never hurt her, or allow anyone else to hurt her. I don’t even like others coming close to her. If it’s not her mother, or River, nobody may carry her. Therefore, I’ve refused to have a babysitter. Anyone from the outside makes me anxious.
I’ve seen too many horrors in my life to trust strangers. Caia has made me love, but my emotions don’t stray from her or River.
“Hey, baby birdie,” I whisper as she stares up at me. Her small smile causing her face to crease in happiness. She holds onto my finger as if I were her lifeline, and I know I’ll kill anyone who ever hurts her, boyfriends included. Even though she’ll only be able to date when she’s thirty.
Caia doesn’t agree with that, but she will. Our little girl is far too special to be broken-hearted by some asshole.
“Are you going to spend all day in here?” Caia’s soft tone comes from behind me, and I turn to find her smiling at me. This woman has changed my life. More than I could ever imagine.
“Perhaps,” I say as I turn back to our baby. “She’s just waking up, and I wanted to make sure she’s happy.”
“Of course she’s happy,” Caia says as she nears me. I can feel her presence as if she were a magnet, drawing me closer. “She has you doting on her all day, every day,” my wife teases.
“And she has me,” River announces as he walks into the nursery to pick Hope up. She coos and giggles in his arms, and then nestles her head into the crook of his neck.
My family.
I still feel strange saying it sometimes because growing up, family was a curse. I didn’t want to believe that the word could bring love and happiness.
But now I’ve witnessed it for myself.
I hope in time Dante finds what I have. I know the girls make him happy, and that fills me with hope. The prospect of love for my brother is something I have wanted for years now.
He deserves to be free from the past. But since he’s taken on a role, one I couldn’t dissuade him from. I’ve sat back and listened to his plans, theories.
He wants to rid the world of vermin. The same rodents we fought as children. Men and women who think that causing pain and misery are their birthright.
I know Dante won’t stop until he’s found them all.
But there is one in particular I know he’s after, and it will lead him down a very dark path. One that I can only pray he comes back from.
Because it might end the man I know as my brother. And whatever returns in his place is not someone I would want in my life.
BONUS SCENE
DANTE
I enjoy playing games. Truth or dare is my favorite. When I was a kid, growing up alongside my brother, I did everything I could to protect him. Most times, I failed because all I did was shove him into the path of the monster.
There were times I had to watch. There were times I would only hear the screams. And it wasn’t only Drake, River too, and the other young ones my father would buy and sell as if they were livestock.
My life isn’t filled with happy memories and sweet lullabies. There were no Christmas’ with gifts under the tree.
But that’s all over now. Even if it haunts me repeatedly. I may have freed us from the ties of the past, but there are still ghosts that lurk close to home.
That’s why I’ve come to France. Paris first because we need to meet my contacts here. But also because I needed to show the girls the beauty of the city.
I stare out at the sun that’s slowly rising. The soft organ glow that forms against the buildings reminds me of new opportunities. A new dawn brings so many possibilities. And being so close to my newest target has me on edge.
There are so many things that could go wrong. But I don’t fear death, not for myself anyway. It’s them I worry about—Harper and Rayne. I never considered falling in love as a possibility.
Deep down, life convinced me that being a loner would suit me well. I was happy with that. But now that they’re in my life, I can’t imagine life without them. And that’s why I’m doing this.