Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Fear.
I could taste it emanating from her.
Theo leaned in and uttered something else before she nodded again and shut the door.
He stood there for a few moments, irritation buzzing from him as he roughed his fingers through the longer pieces of his hair.
Then he turned, and there was nothing I could do but stumble back when those piercing eyes landed on me.
THIRTY-ONE
THEO
I knew she’d been watching me the entire time I scoped the perimeter of the property, but she clearly didn’t realize I was aware with the way she jerked back and let the drape drop closed the second I met her eye.
Maybe I wanted her to know what I was up to.
Maybe I wanted her to see right to the middle of me.
Maybe I was a fucking fool who was angling for something that he couldn’t keep.
Because the warning blaring in my mind that I was standing on a crumbling ledge wasn’t loud enough to keep me from crossing the lot.
Boots eating up the ground as I made my way to the lure calling from behind the wall that separated us.
I took one more glance around, still itching with the sense that something had gone faulty. But there’d been zero evidence of anyone lurking around, and Alicia said she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Still, at Sanctum’s meeting tonight, I was set on talking to my crew about posting an extra guard.
Just in case.
But for now, I had to rest in the fact that Alicia and Lucy were safe. Locked behind closed doors. Soon, we’d get them to their new home so they could start their new lives.
A sensation blazed inside me as I stepped onto the low porch in front of Unit B. Like maybe there was a new life waiting on the other side of it.
One for Piper and her family.
One for me.
The wayward thought slid in, unbidden and unwelcome.
Because it was nothing but treachery.
Guilt smacked me across the face, and I was the bastard who merely scrubbed a palm over the sheen of shame like I could wipe it away.
Heart going haywire as I raised my fist and knocked against the wood.
I could sense the furor of her misgiving, Piper’s apprehension and whatever else had been going through that beautiful, fierce head of hers when she watched me go to Alicia’s cabin.
“Mommy, someone here?” Finn’s adorable voice echoed through the door, and I could feel her presence hover on the other side.
A fuckin’ magnet that made me want to plaster myself against the wood and beg her to let me through.
I heard shuffling before the door finally creaked open, and Piper stepped through.
Wearing that white coat with her white hair raining around her.
Those arctic eyes flayed me open wide.
I tossed her a teasing grin, not sure how I pulled it off. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and her head barely shook, silken locks whipping around her gorgeous face.
“I don’t know if I can handle what’s happening between us, Theo.”
Yeah.
She wasn’t alone.
“What do you think is happening?” I grunted.
Her arms tightened like they were shields. “I think I’m setting myself up to get my heart broken.”
“One-star, remember?” I attempted to joke. “Hardly think I’m worthy of a broken heart.”
I didn’t deserve it.
Any piece of her.
I wanted to consume it all, anyway.
Her mouth tipped down at the side. Half in amusement and half in distress. “The problem is, you’re starting to feel like you’re worthy of a whole lot of things. And then…”
She inhaled an unsettled breath and tipped her head in the direction of the cabin sitting at a diagonal across the lot. “Then I saw you go over there…and…I don’t like the way it made me feel.”
My chest tightened, and the words were gritting out, “Are you jealous, Little Liar?”
Did it make me a prick that I liked it?
A twisted satisfaction twining through my insides, all while a punch of lust kicked me in the gut.
She lifted her chin and eyed me down. “Yes.”
I couldn’t do anything but reach out and set my palm against her jaw, cupping it soft, my thumb tracing over her plump bottom lip.
Wanted to do something stupid like tell her it was because she was mine.
Because she was.
At least for a little while.
“Nothing is going on like that with me and Alicia, Piper. Never has been. I was just checking on her and Lucy. They’ve…”
I paused, wondering if it was a betrayal to give her anything at all, but instinct told me I could trust Piper with it. “They’ve had a rough life, and while they’ve been staying here, I’ve been sure to keep an extra eye on them.”
That fierce chin trembled. I felt it glide through my hand on a wave of affection mixed with a bout of anxiety. “You seemed upset.”