Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
I choke on a sob, the tears hot and angry in my eyes. “I cared about you, Talon. I made a mistake, I was desperate and I was scared, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t fucking care about you.”
“Whatever you thought we had, it’s gone. Do you hear me? Gone.”
His words are like a punch to the gut, and he releases me, stepping back. My legs give out, and I slide down the tree, my body crumpling to the ground. I watch as he turns and walks away, not speaking another word, not looking back.
The silence is thick and suffocating, and I feel the weight of everything crashing down. The hurt, the betrayal, the loss. I’m alone, truly alone, and the realization is a hollow, echoing ache that I can’t escape.
I stay there, shaking and breathless, until the night grows colder, until the numbness sets in. I don’t know how I’ll get through this, how I’ll survive it, but I know one thing—
I’m not done fighting.
Not yet.
THE SOUND OF A TRUCK engine cuts through the silence, and I know that means we’re close. I push myself to my feet, my entire body trembling with emotion, and follow him, my head aching with every step. He stood by and waited while I broke down beside that tree earlier, then we were on the move again, not a single word spoken.
We break through the trees, and I see the truck parked on the side of the road. Talon gets in the driver’s seat, not waiting for me, not looking at me. The man who was driving the truck gets into another car, leaving without so much as a word. I guess that’s it then, I have no choice but to get in.
I could run, but where would I go?
Exhaling, I climb in, slamming the door, my breath coming in short, sharp pants.
He drives, his hands tight on the wheel, his eyes fixed ahead. The silence is unbearable, but I don’t break it. I don’t give him the satisfaction. The road stretches out in front of us, endless and dark, the tension in the truck so thick it’s choking. We drive for what feels like hours, the landscape barren and unfamiliar, until we finally pull up to a large warehouse in the middle of nowhere.
Talon cuts the engine and gets out, leaving me to follow.
I do, trailing behind him as he leads me inside, the cold air biting at my skin. The warehouse is empty, vast and echoing, and I feel so small, so goddamn insignificant. He stops at a small room off to the side, pushing the door open and gesturing for me to go in. I pause, waiting for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t.
“What am I supposed to do, just sit here and wait?”
He nods, not speaking.
“Goddammit, Talon, can’t you at least tell me what the hell is going to happen to me, to my child?”
He doesn’t.
He just turns away.
I walk inside, the door closing behind me, the sound final. The room is small, sparse, a mattress on the floor and nothing else. I stand there, my arms wrapped around myself and listen as his footsteps fade away.
I am so fucking alone.
God damn him for making me feel like this.
I guess I am to blame, if I’m being truthful.
I sit on the edge of the mattress, wondering if I did things differently, where I would be right now. I thought my plan was foolproof, that going to my father and offering my help would give me the best of everything. I should have known it wouldn’t work out like that. Hell, I should have known that my father was unlikely to ever let me go. He had a plan.
I just didn’t see it.
Now I have lost everything, and I’m pregnant with a child I’m not even certain I can take care of. Cyrus will never stop, not until he has the child he placed inside me. At least, that’s how he sees it. The child belongs to him, to them, and I’m just a carrier.
Reaching down, I press a hand to my stomach.
I don’t know who you are yet, but I do promise to do my best to take care of you.
Even if it means giving you up.
Perhaps that is my only choice.
A family who is desperate for a child, someone who will cherish the very ground he or she walks on.
Could I do it?
If I have to, I will.
I’ll do whatever it takes.
14
The night is long, endless, and I don’t sleep. I sit on the mattress, my knees tucked to my chest, and wait for something to happen. Anything. But nothing does. I don’t know if they’ve left me, if they’re coming back, if this is where I’ll die. I don’t know a single damn thing.
It isn’t until the sun shines into the room the next morning, and I hear familiar voices outside, that I realize I’m not alone. Most of the club has arrived, though I don’t interact with any of them. Mera comes in, giving me food and drink, asking me to come outside and walk with her, but I decline.