Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I carried the bags into the kitchen and put everything away, except for the three cracked eggs that got yolk all over the paper bag. I had to throw it away instead of recycling it, and then I scrubbed my hands clean to get the salmonella off my skin.
I headed back into the living room—and jumped out of my skin.
The curtains over the main window were drawn closed, not by me, and in the shadow sat a man in one of the armchairs.
It took a moment for my vision to adjust. To recognize the angry coffee-colored eyes that burned my skin with the heat of volcanic lava. My heart raced so quickly that my lungs couldn’t keep up with the demand, and I felt a little faint.
He’d skipped the leather jacket because it was too hot for anything but his black t-shirt. He was in dark jeans, and I could see his signature boots because one ankle was propped on the opposite knee. His elbow was on one of the armrests, his curled fingers underneath his chin.
I had no words.
Time passed and we stayed still, our eyes looking at each other in the dark.
I still couldn’t find anything to say.
He got to his feet, and then his boots thudded against the hardwood as he came toward me, coming into the light from the kitchen behind me. Now his features were on full display—and I’d never seen him angrier. “Six weeks. That’s all it took to forget me. Six fucking weeks.”
I’d been so surprised by his visit I didn’t have time to ponder the reason he came.
“He’s a coward, Laura. A goddamn coward.”
I breathed hard, still unnerved by his ambush.
“You think the second time will be any different from the first? I wasn’t safe enough for you, but this asshole is?”
It took time for me to gather my bearings, to stifle the scream in my heart. “You have a lot of nerve, Bartholomew.”
He stepped closer to me, his dark eyebrows furrowed. “I have a lot of nerve?”
“You dumped me, remember? What do you care?”
“No, you dumped me,” he snapped. “Let’s not rewrite history. You only wanted me back when you realized you’d made the wrong choice. Don’t paint me as the asshole. I don’t settle for less than what I deserve—big difference. You, on the other hand, are selling yourself short if you think that man can make you happy. If you think he can make you come the way I do.” He didn’t yell, but he didn’t speak calmly either. With every word, he suppressed his rage. The slight tremors in his body told me just how angry he was.
“Bartholomew, why are you here?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You don’t want me, so why the fuck are you here?” Now I yelled. “I begged you for another chance. Apologized for my screwup I don’t know how many times. The answer was no. Over and over. So why do you care if I want to marry Victor?”
He said nothing, but his eyes continued to burn with his fury. Every time I spoke, he seemed to get angrier, like every word out of my mouth was gasoline and his rage was the match.
“I may have broken things off between us, but you’re the one who ended it for good.”
“Not because I wanted to—”
“But you did—”
“Because I was angry. Angry that I’d sacrificed the world for a woman who wouldn’t do the same for me. You hurt me—and I don’t say those words lightly. I don’t admit that kind of shit to anyone.” He slammed his fist into his chest like a caveman. “But you fucking broke me.”
Nothing he’d said hurt me as much as that. “You broke me too, Bartholomew.”
“I never betrayed you—”
“But you broke me when you walked away.”
“Really? Because it seems like you’re doing just fine.” He glanced down to the ring on my left hand, a ring I’d worn for two years. When he looked at me again, he was vicious once more.
I yanked it off my finger and set it on the dining table. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Victor and I are working together to bring down my father. It’s just part of the plan.”
His reaction remained stiff, like it took him longer than usual to understand the implications.
“We aren’t seeing each other. We’re just…friends, I guess.”
It took a while for the anger to release its grip on his features. Slowly, the tremors stopped, the cords stopped popping out of his neck with the same prominence. He sheathed his rage, but a wisp of temper was still in his eyes.
“You can go now.”
He second-guessed my words with his eyes.
“You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me.”
His arms hung at his sides, the prominent veins like rivers down his skin. He took a step closer to me as those brown eyes absorbed my soul. “I’ve always wanted you, sweetheart. That’s never been the issue.”