Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
And finally, number three: before leaving Crete, I paid a visit to the man who’d watched over me. It was a risk, considering everyone on the island had been searching for me, but I had to ascertain what he knew. Why had this been done to me?
He didn’t know. Even in the throes of death, he could not offer an explanation, which meant my parents had gone to great lengths to hide the reason for locking me away.
Yes, I killed him.
Did that make me an evil bastard? Maybe.
But what was worse? Robbing a person of thirty years of his life, filling his head and heart with love and a purpose that never existed, only to have it all shattered? Or to kill a man who was paid to carry out this cruel act?
He did not care about what he’d done to me. He did not care that he had no idea why. But he had cared about the money that showed up on his doorstep each month. I’d heard it in his thoughts before I ended him.
Then I’d found money stashed in a suitcase. Millions of dollars. Now mine to fund my search for answers.
Not that money could make up for what I’d lost. I loved Zarda. She’d meant everything to me. So had my family—my mother and father, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins. I even loved the family who cared for our home and cooked for us. But they’d all been a dream, just stories from a book.
To be clear, they existed in the real world—I obviously had a father and mother—but the versions I knew were made up. Especially Zarda.
When I tracked her down before leaving Crete, I discovered she was married with three children. The heartless bitch read from the Memory Book for extra money, telling me stories of our life together and of how much we loved each other. At night, she went home to her husband and real family.
If you are wondering, I did not kill her. I loved her too much to even show her my face or say a cruel word.
But trust me, the rage inside was real.
My pain was real.
My need for revenge was real.
But more than anything, I wanted answers, and I would not stop until I got them.
I moved my hand to Piper’s shoulder, feeling her body shiver against mine as I pressed her to the kitchen wall. “Show me what you know, Piper. Why did I dream of you and this house?”
I immediately hit a barrier in her mind, like she was fighting to keep her thoughts well hidden.
How very interesting. Our little professor had secrets. With time, as my skills improved, I would find out what she was hiding. In the meantime, I decided to ask another question. “Show me what you know about this house.”
Images began shuffling through her mind, most of them random—paint, blueprints, and the deed.
There. It was a record of the previous owner. He’d had a warehouse near the wharf and an office building downtown.
It wasn’t much to go on, but it was better than nothing.
I dropped my hand and stared deeply into Piper’s eyes. They were a stunning shade of hazel with deep green swirls around the irises. I could see myself fucking her someday, but right now, I had more important things to do.
“Piper, you will forget all about this. You will relax and let it all disappear.”
Piper
Why am I standing against this wall? And why was Draco two inches from me, shirtless? I swallowed down a lump in my throat. “What’s happening?”
He took a step back. “You were about to tell me why you purchased this house when you started feeling dizzy.”
I was? I didn’t remember, and it certainly didn’t explain why this psycho fucker was standing so close.
“That is not very nice,” he said.
“I didn’t say anything.” The dial on my headache turned up. “Oh, God.” I pressed my hands to the sides of my head.
“My apologies. I am still new at this. I have pushed you too hard.”
What was he talking about?
Draco leaned forward, putting us nose to nose, deepening his gaze. “You are all right, Piper. Breathe normally now, and the pain will go away.”
I obeyed him, drawing a deep breath, and my pain cleared. “What did you just do?”
“A trick I learned for headaches. Forget about it.”
Forget… I shook my head, trying to straighten out my thoughts. Draco stood a few feet away, shirtless and barefoot, wearing only jeans that hung low on his hips.
Why was he in my kitchen—Oh, right. He probably wanted to complain about me barging into his room like that. I was so embarrassed. I would have to put a lock on his door so he could have more privacy.
“Piper?” Leo appeared in the kitchen doorway.
My eyes dashed between Draco’s calm face and Leo’s angry gaze. Like a slap to the face, I suddenly realized how this looked.