Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I didn’t say anything or watch as he disappeared. I heard his truck engine and the sound of him pulling out of the drive. The loneliness grew even heavier, and I blinked back the tears that filled my eyes. Setting the coffee, which had gone cold, down on the table beside me, I stood up and walked back inside.
Saxon had said I was safe here, but the fear was something I couldn’t seem to overcome. Closing the door, I locked it, then went to check all the other doors. Knowing that the men who had taken me in the movie theater restroom were dead, but that they hadn’t acted alone.
Blaise had many enemies. How could Saxon be so sure they wouldn’t come looking for me? That they hadn’t followed us, waiting until I was alone once again?
There was a dark world out there, full of bad men who did bad things. It was wrapped in wealth and power. My mother had fled from it to save me, and I’d ended up falling in love with the darkest one of all. My heart had seen something in Blaise, and I’d wanted him so much that I’d overlooked who he was. What he did.
When it was your family that he killed, you couldn’t overlook it. The fairy tale I’d let myself pretend I was in had gone up in flames.
I was still battling inside over who had left that envelope for me to find. Did I hate them for causing me all this pain? Or had they saved me from getting any deeper into a world I knew nothing about? Who had left it? Maybe if I knew who had left it for me, then I would know how to feel. I’d know why they had done it.
I took time to fold the blanket I’d been covered up with outside, then placed it on the sofa.
Saxon had bought me books last week. They were my only escape—when I could focus on them. Reading would be the only company I had. I knew I couldn’t stay here forever, but trying to plan my future was more than I could handle at the moment.
My future was questionable. Saxon had seemed so sure that my life wasn’t at risk. Blaise wasn’t chasing after me. I was no longer a weakness for him. I understood that, but did his enemies? As lost as I felt, I still didn’t wish for death. At least not at the hands of someone who would make that death brutal. If I wanted to end my life, I preferred to handle it. Not that I ever would. I wasn’t sure what happened after death, and if this was truly the only life we got before we were dust, I wanted to have a chance to make this one worth it.
Stepping into the kitchen, I looked around at the things Saxon had bought for me. Sitting on the counter, there was a bowl full of fruit, a box of croissants, several different muffins, and the credit card he’d said he left for me.
My name was on the card, and I knew using it only meant I would feel as if I had to pay the Houstons back. They were already letting me stay here for free. Feeding me, getting me a rental car to use. I wasn’t theirs to worry about, and I didn’t know why they were doing it. If this was because Melanie felt guilty for bringing me into this world and not being there for me when I needed advice, this wasn’t going to fix things.
Walking over to the counter to take an apple from the fruit bowl in hopes that I could force it down, I stopped when I saw a white letter-sized envelope tucked under the edge of the bowl. Had Saxon left it behind?
If it had been meant for me, then Saxon would have just given it to me. Wouldn’t he?
Confused, I reached for it and noticed my name was written on it in familiar handwriting. My grip tightened as my hand began to tremble. I stood there, holding it, looking down at that script. My chest ached painfully, but that was nothing compared to the inner turmoil going on inside my head.
Saxon must not have wanted to see my face when he gave this to me. I reached out and grabbed the counter for balance and closed my eyes, taking several deep breaths. If just seeing Blaise’s handwriting affected me like this, then how could I open it and read it? He could have texted me. Whatever was inside this envelope couldn’t just be a letter. It was too thick for that. Was it money? My stomach twisted at the thought. Did he think he could buy me off? From what exactly? Killing my father and brother? Letting me fall in love with him?