Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“I’ll give you enough money to pay off your mortgage and live on for the rest of your life. You won’t have to work for me ever again.”
That gets my attention. I’m inches from walking off, but I stand there looking into the forest of slot machines, watching the lights blink, the faces chatter, the people slumped in their chairs jabbing at the buttons. It’s all noise, action, meaningless without context. I don’t want this, I don’t want to think about this, but I can’t help myself.
I remember my father’s casket lowering into the grave. I remember how it broke me, watching him disappear beneath the earth. How it didn’t feel real until that moment, like I thought maybe, somehow, this was all some mistake and he’d get up, walk over, give me a huge hug like he always did.
Instead, he was gone. All that’s left of him now is the house I can’t afford, the house filled with memories of him. The only person I ever really loved. A single father, a man that sacrificed so much to give me a normal childhood.
“How do you know about the house?” I ask, my voice choked.
“I know more about you than you realize. You think I’d let just anyone in my life?”
“How do you know?” I turn to face him, angry now. The house is mine. I don’t talk about it with him. I don’t let him come into that world, because it’s the only place I feel safe. My childhood home, all that’s left of my dad.
“I looked into you,” he says. “I know your story. I’ve seen the mortgage records. Why do you think I pay you so much? Otherwise, you never would’ve stuck around.”
I feel like my chest might open up at any moment. “Stop. I don’t want to hear that.”
“This is the last thing I’ll ever ask you to do, Isabel. Marry me, tell some stories, really sell them, then you’re free. I’ll give you money, more than you know what to do with. You can pay off your debt. Move away if you want. But this is it.”
My head’s spinning. I feel dizzy and the noise is only making it worse.
Could I really go through with this? Could I really marry Conlan for money, of all things?
It’s not really the cash, but what it would allow me to do. Keep the house, keep it forever if that’s what I want. I’d always have a place where I could go to remember my dad, the only person I ever really loved and who ever really loved me back.
“I really hate you, Conlan.” The words come out a messy whisper. I’m so angry I could scream. I despise him right now for putting me in this position. “I don’t want to do this.”
“I know.” He seems exhausted. Even a little sad. “But I need you.”
That word again. That need.
“I don’t care what you need anymore.” I turn away. Tears fill my eyes. This is my chance, and I’m walking away from it. “I’m not going to marry you. I’m sick of bailing you out.”
“At least stay for the meeting with the general.” He’s not pleading, not begging, but there’s a softness to his tone. Like he really wants me there. “You don’t have to marry me, you don’t have to lie for me, but at least don’t quit.”
I take several deep, steadying breaths.
All the reasons I haven’t left this job yet remain problems.
The mortgage, taxes, bills, repairs. The house is an old bungalow worth a million dollars now with more problems than solutions.
But it’s my house.
“Fine,” I say, letting a little piece of my self-respect crumble and die. “But just so we’re clear, I’m not going to marry you.”
“That’s all right. I understand.”
“Good. Where’s my room? I need some time to unwind.”
“Ask at the front desk, it’ll be under my name. They’ll give you a key.”
“Right.” I pause and look back.
He’s staring at me with those eyes. With that damn look. So plaintive, like he knows he’s gone too far, and he’s afraid of losing me.
Let him be afraid.
I walk away, hands curled into fists, willing a bit of iron into my spine.
Chapter 7
Conlan
“That didn’t go well, did it?” I look over as Casey sits down in the chair next to mine with a sigh. She rubs her knee, grinning. Roxie comes over, leans across the bar, and kisses her cheek. Casey asks for a club soda.
“No, it did not.” I stare after Isabel. “But it could’ve been worse.”
“She’s really pretty.”
“I know.”
“Are you into her? I think you might be into her.”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I glance at my sister-in-law. I don’t know how the hell Adler ever landed a girl like this—she’s beautiful, sure, but she’s also a decent person. It never occurred to me that someone might be able to put up with my older brother’s bullshit. “How is my nephew?”