Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
It was always crafted by violence and abuse and control. Drew’s father. My mother. My father, even, always so obsessed with money and power no matter the cost. And now Drew.
The box they want to put me in was never for my safety. I created it. My brain erupted with all these OCD symptoms screaming at me that something is wrong! because they were the dangerous ones all along.
They can only keep their power if me and everyone like me stay small so they can keep looming large.
Maybe there was never any way out for me, as narrowly as I’ve been backed into this corner.
But one thing’s for damn sure, I’m not taking a good man like Isaak Luther down with me.
So that means I’ve got to go handle Drew, no matter how fucking anxious or crazy I feel right now.
Fucking Drew. Fucking Drew. Fucking Drew. Fucking Drew. Fucking Drew.
My hands ball into fists and I climb off the floor.
I can put on the poker face needed to handle him. I’m capable of more than any of them realize.
I take a deep breath, swallow hard, and head off to find him in his study.
He barely looks up from the papers he’s sifting through as I walk in. He’s always working. Like father, like son.
“Has Isaak been let go yet?”
That certainly has his head snapping up. “What do you care?”
Be sweet. Be Southern. Be the little girl he expects you to be. The one who’s always waiting for him at the end of the night no matter what. “I told you why already. I hoped you would make it a wedding gift to me.”
His eyes narrow, but I try pushing further. “And one more thing. I want to see him tomorrow.”
“The day before our wedding?” I hear the danger in his voice but keep talking.
“Yes. He won’t leave us alone for good unless I make him. I don’t want him hurt. I just want to scare him away.”
It’s the terrifying truth. With as protective as Isaak is, the moment he gets out of jail, he’ll come for me.
Drew is violent, rich, and connected.
He’s not bluffing when he says he’ll have Isaak killed.
This was always my fate, but I refuse for it to be Isaak’s. I have to save him in the only way I can.
I look Drew straight in the eye, channeling the girl he knew. “And I need to see him so I can tell him the truth. That I never had feelings for him. It’s always been you. Then he can go his way, and I’ll go mine. With you.”
I smile at Drew as I reach his side, and he spins his chair out from under his desk to face me.
“You’ll get everything you ever wanted.” I smile, dropping down to sit on his lap. “Him gone and me as a willing and happy wife.”
I lift a hand to cup his face. “I’ll be the supporter that you can always count on. You know it used to be so good with us, Drew. I idolized you. You’re still that man. That great man. You’re going to be greater still, and you’re right. This is where I belong. In this world, with you.”
“Then why do you care what happens to that loser?” he seethes through his teeth, arms wrapping around me. It takes everything in me not to shudder and yank away.
“I’m softer than you.” I comb some hair back from his face, forcing myself to stay completely in character. “I have a gentle heart. I don’t want to go into our marriage with unfinished business. If I can set him free and send him on his way, then it’s a win-win for everyone.”
I meet Drew’s gaze steadily with mine. “We could be the best team together, Drew. I know it. I’ll never ask you for much, and I’ll be everything you need.”
“Well, then start now,” he says with petulant cruelty, “and don’t ask me for this.”
Shit. Of course. Someone with ASPD will only ever be concerned with their own motives and desires. He doesn’t care about what could be a win-win situation for both of us.
He only cares if he wins.
I breathe out, keeping my gaze and demeanor soft as I try to keep that in mind. “It will eat at me. I won’t mean for it to, but it will. And I might not be able to comfort you as much as I used to. Really, Drew, I didn’t know it bothered you so much, or I wouldn’t have hooked up with him. I just thought since you had your women—”
“It’s different for men,” he snaps.
God, I’m walking such a careful line here between his ego and his impulsivity.
I lean in slightly and furrow my eyebrows as if begging for his approval. “Well, now I know the rules. You know I’m good at following rules. I was always a straight-A student,” I try to joke with a little smile. It kills me to stay in character, but I know I have to. I’m committed. Lives are literally at stake.