Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“That’s a fair way to put it,” I agreed.
“It’s just a matter of probabilities,” Griffen said. “You played with fire, you got burned. And when I say I’m genuinely sorry that you had to go through that and I’m really glad you’re out, I mean it.”
I nodded and swallowed hard, fighting back the words that beat against my brain until they spilled off my tongue. “Can you ever forgive me?”
The silence stretched until Griffen said, “I don’t think that’s really what you want to know.”
My chest felt hollow, but he went on.
“Forgiveness is the easy part,” he said, glancing at me, his eyes seeing straight through to my soul. “I forgive you. You were a fucking kid, barely out of college. We had a toxic family. Our father was a nightmare. So yeah, I can forgive. I can forgive you for selling me out and getting me exiled and for marrying Vanessa. Jesus, I’m glad it was you and not me. We were both idiots where she was concerned.”
“I was thinking with my dick and my jealousy,” I admitted. “She was so beautiful, and she always knew the right thing to say to get under my skin. Looking back, I can’t believe I fell for her act so easily.”
“You weren’t the only one,” Griffen said with a laugh. “But what I really think you’re asking is if things can ever go back to how they were.”
My chest felt like it was caving in as the prison came into sight. The hard-edged shape of it loomed, blocking out the sun, as I waited for Griffen to finish, knowing he was right. Forgiveness wasn’t what I really wanted.
I wanted my brother back.
Chapter Fourteen
FORD
Griffen turned into the parking lot and slid into an empty space. Throwing the SUV in park, he turned and looked at me, his green eyes so like mine, searing straight through me. “I don’t know if we can go back, but this is a start. All we can do is figure it out from here. So, what’s our plan when we go in there?”
The pressure around my heart eased, and I took a breath. He was right. All we could do was figure it out from here.
“I have a couple of things in mind,” I said and filled him in.
The process of getting in to see Cole was both amusing and a little stomach-turning. The warden kissed Griffen’s ass like he was my father times two, cutting me out of the conversation, giving me the back of his shoulder, and refusing to meet my eyes. Fine with me. He didn’t know what to make of a Sawyer who was also a former inmate.
I found that instead of envy at the warden treating Griffen like the king of the universe, I felt only a faint disgust and sympathy for Griffen, who handled it well, making use of it when he needed to expedite the process of getting to Cole. As someone who knew him, I could see his discomfort with the ass-kissing. It was all part of being the head of the Sawyer family.
I tried not to flinch as the first set of doors opened in front of us, the long concrete walls narrowing in on me. My fingers curled into fists, my heart thumping in my chest until I was a little dizzy with it. Griffen shot me a concerned look and I forced a smile—more for our audience than for him—then unclenched my fingers, drawing in a slow, deep breath. I wasn’t here to stay. I just had to get this over with.
Cole waited for us in the room where Griffen had so often come to visit me, sitting at the metal table, hands and feet cuffed, in that familiar orange jumpsuit. Other than the surroundings and what he was wearing, he looked exactly as he had the last time I saw him—as if prison hadn’t touched him at all. Only Cole Haywood could manage to look like a model wearing a prison jumpsuit.
“Look, it’s the Sawyer brothers come to visit an old friend,” he said. “Nice to see you both.”
Griffen sat without a word.
“Your assassin got arrested,” I said, taking a seat beside my brother, propping an ankle on one knee, and leaning back in the metal chair, trying for casual and unconcerned.
“I heard you were attacked,” Cole said. “Something about a crazed local at the brewery?” He shook his head. “Troubling what the world’s come to, isn’t it?”
“That’s one way to put it,” I said. “I’m assuming there’ll be more.”
Cole raised an eyebrow, amusement glittering in his blue eyes. “You know what they say about assumptions. But in this case,” he shrugged a shoulder, “it seems within the realm of possibilities. You made a lot of enemies over the years. Any one of them could want payback.”