Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Garrett stood up then. “The rest of the story is Blaise’s to tell.” He turned and picked up his cowboy hat and put it back on his head. “Thanks for breakfast, Gina. Delicious, as always, my dear.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
“I’ll leave you to the rest,” Garrett said, then turned and walked out of the house.
I sat back in my seat. I realized food had been set in front of me at some point, but I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want to eat. I had to digest this. I needed the rest of the story. I turned to look at Blaise.
“You watched me for six years?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Yes, I did.”
I was confused. He had looked for me, found me, and watched over me, so why had he treated me the way he did when I came here?
I shook my head. “I am not understanding things. When I came here, you hated me,” I said.
“No. I hated what I felt for you. I didn’t want to. You had lived a shit life. Saxon was perfect for you. He’d give you all the things you never had, and he wasn’t the future boss. He was just part of the family.”
Wait. What?
“You wanted me for Saxon? You didn’t even know if I’d like him. If I could love him. You can’t decide that for someone.”
Blaise sighed. “Trust me, I know.”
“What changed your mind?”
A small smile touched his lips. “You.”
He squeezed my hand again. “You’re not even bringing up the fact that you’ve been told that the family is organized crime. We are the mob. I will be the boss in the next few years. This will never change.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I had started to piece some of that together anyway.” I looked over at Huck and Gage. “I heard more than you all realize,” I said. “Huck hung them on a cross after shooting them. That’s not normal.”
Gage chuckled and tried to cover it with a cough.
“The men who took you, they did it because of me. You became something I had never had before. A weakness. You’re a target. My claiming you made you that. It’s why I’d tried so damn hard to stay away from you.”
“They were another mob?” I asked.
He snarled, “No. They were fucking lowlife dealers. We have enemies. That happens in this life.”
I felt like there was more to that than some drug dealers, but right now, I had too much to process. “How did they find me? How did you?” I asked him.
“Your phone. Melanie gave it to you, but I’d bought the phone. I’d put the tracking device in it. They took the phone, of course, and turned it off. They wanted something from me, so they wouldn’t destroy the phone. They kept it to contact me directly. But the device wasn’t in the phone. It was in the case.”
It was all starting to fall together. His insisting I take the phone. His number being in it that time he had texted me.
“How does horse racing fit into this world?” I asked.
“It’s how the family was started. It’s also a big part of who we are. Gambling, politics, controlling drugs inside and outside of the track.”
I knew something was being left out, but I didn’t push.
“That’s everything?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he replied.
I didn’t say anything, and I heard the chairs move as the others stood to leave. The kitchen cleared out, and when it was just the two of us, I looked at Blaise.
“I wouldn’t have run from you if you’d told me,” I told him. “But I understand.”
He studied me. “Can you ever love me? Knowing all this?”
I laughed at his question. “You are worried about me falling in love with you? What about you? You’re not only beautiful, sexy, and wealthy. You will also have power. You already do. Women are drawn to that. They’ll throw themselves at you. I see them do it now. I should be the one worried about you falling in love with me.”
An arrogant smile curled his lips. “You think I’m beautiful and sexy?”
I rolled my eyes.
Blaise cupped my face with his left hand. “Baby, I’ve been in love with you for fucking years. I fell in love with you before you ever laid eyes on me. Truth is, I was in love with you when you were jailbait.”
My mouth fell open. “What? You didn’t know me. You couldn’t have loved me.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. “You were that damn special. So strong and loyal. I almost killed that fucker Hank when he cheated on you. I hated him for having you, but to have you and not realize how damn lucky he was? The shit didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”
“I need a moment,” I told him. “Maybe give me time to process all this before you tell me any more.”