Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
One peek at The Defender’s face told me he wasn’t going to drop this.
Pressing my palms together, I tucked them into my lap and sucked in a breath I instantly regretted from the way it made my ribs and back feel. I hated every single one of those bastards who had brought us here. Those damn beanbag rounds had been unnecessary.
“I deserve to know,” his rich, low voice reminded me.
Him deserving it didn’t make it any easier though. It still felt wrong. It felt like writing with my left hand when I’d been a righty my whole life. Tell no one. Keep your head down. Don’t get too close to anyone. Don’t do this, don’t do that.
But I was still here, and I had no idea what the future would hold.
“You do, but it’s kind of a long story, so I’m trying to condense it.” I might not have any loyalty to my parents, but it was still awkward to talk about their mistakes, if you could call the monumentally stupid shit they had done a “mistake.” It was more like a disaster. Like walking in front of a moving bus thinking nothing would happen. That only worked for members of the Trinity.
“I don’t need a short version.”
How was it possible for someone so beautiful to have so much attitude? I side-eyed him. “You’re not going to kill me or anything, are you?”
He side-eyed me right back. “If I wanted… I’d have done it already.”
That was real comforting.
“I know enough about what I need to know.” His eyes glowed briefly. “I won’t use… what you tell me against you…. Won’t share it unless it’s necessary.”
It was so fucking weird to hear him talk.
But that was as good as I was going to get, wasn’t it? I guess… I guess, I didn’t see the harm in telling him. I guess I didn’t want him to think I was a scumbag. I wanted to be sure he understood that, at its root, this wasn’t my fault. That I had tried to avoid this.
I wished he hadn’t gotten dragged into this. I pressed my lips together and sighed, then winced. “Okay. Let’s see… I’ll try and keep the story straight.”
He stared.
I stared.
Then he grunted.
“My parents stole money from the cartel, and they want it back.”
There. It was that easy, wasn’t it?
The Defender’s eyes had started narrowing from the moment I started talking and kept narrowing with every second that passed. Obviously, that wasn’t enough information for him. I knew it wouldn’t be, but I guess some itty-bitty part of me had hoped he’d accept that. That he wouldn’t want to talk about it more.
But since when had I ever gotten what I wanted?
“Your parents? Not your grandparents?” he asked.
I nodded. “Right. Other than lying about our names sometimes, they were really good people. The best. They got dragged into this just for being related to my mom.”
His face went thoughtful. “Do you have it?” he asked suddenly.
My body froze but I told him the truth. “No. My grandparents would have never taken a single penny even if it was the end of the world.” I swallowed. “My grandpa used to say that even if the cartel got back the majority of the money, they would never let it go. They would never forgive or forget what was done.”
Now that we were talking….
And what if this was the last conversation I’d ever have?
I guess that was the thing about feeling like you were running out of time—with every minute that went by, every second felt more and more precious. The things that had stopped you before suddenly didn’t seem that important.
What was the worst he would do if I annoyed him? He’d ignore me? Talk to me all grouchy?
I’d tried being quiet around him for weeks. I’d always tried to keep my mouth shut so I wouldn’t say anything I shouldn’t by accident. And I might or might not be running out of time.
Fuck it.
“What’s the longest you’ve gone being injured before?” I blurted out in Portuguese, not even realizing that’s what I was going to ask until it was halfway out of my mouth, and at that point, I just had to roll with it.
Dark eyelids fell slowly over those incredible pupils. “This wasn’t… a two-way road… with questions.”
I knew that better than anybody, but we were past me catering to him to that extent. If this could be the end, I was getting all these fucking words out of my mouth. “But it could be.” I thought about smiling at him, but I figured he’d see right through that. “I wouldn’t tell anyone anything. I don’t have any friends, remember?”
Something flickered in his eyes. “You said you did.”
I snorted, and it was only about half bitter. “I was lying.”
He blinked. Then he watched me for a long, long moment while I stared right back at him.