Total pages in book: 266
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 250787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1254(@200wpm)___ 1003(@250wpm)___ 836(@300wpm)
“How do you know that?” she asks.
“Because I recently needed to appear dead.”
CHARLOTTE
“Those four days… thinking you were dead, and then you were alive.”
Ashtyn’s words come to mind when she stood in the hallway at Carnage and told my husband she loved him too. “Let me guess, you did it for Ashtyn? Your baby girl.” I roll my eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
He frowns at me, and I shake my head. Pushing my chair back, I get to my feet and sway a little. He jumps from his to come to my aid, and I push him back. “I don’t need your help.”
“Charlotte—”
“Did you take that bullet for her too?” I joke but his silence makes my stomach drop. “Why?” I demand. “Why did you risk so much for her? She wasn’t yours.”
He looks away from me, jaw sharpening.
I hate how much he cares for her. I know I’m not supposed to. That it’s okay for them to have a past, but I’ve only ever belonged to him. It’s not fair that another woman was supposed to be his. “If you want her, then go get her.” I go to storm out of the kitchen, but he grabs my arm and spins me around, forcing me to face him. My hands come up, and I try to push him away, but I’m still too weak.
“I don’t want her.” He reassures me, holding me in place.
“Don’t touch me,” I snap.
“Calm down, doll face,” he growls. “You just woke up and still need to take it easy.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I don’t know if I want to kill him or kiss him.
“It’s okay.” He reaches up and pushes my hair behind my ear. I drop my face to hide, but he cups my chin and forces it up so his eyes can meet mine. “I’m here with you. I married you. You’re the one I want.”
“I…I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I admit softly.
He sighs. “You’ve been through a lot, Annabelle.” I flinch at the use of my real name. He said it softly, almost as if he feels sorry for me. “It’s going to take a toll on you. But you will be okay. It’s all going to be okay.”
The way he says it has me questioning everything, but I can’t seem to make my lips work. I’m just tired. So instead of fighting him, I push myself into his muscular body and wrap my arms around his chest, burying my face into his shirt and inhaling his scent. It’s become my home. My safe place.
He pushes me away, and my stomach sinks, reminding myself that I’m not Ashtyn. I’m just some whore forced to marry him. But he reaches down and slides an arm underneath the back of my knees and picks me up, cradling me to him. I swallow the knot in my throat as he carries me back to my bed.
When he lays me down, I force myself to release him, thinking he’s going to leave me, but he crawls into bed next to me and pulls me against him. I allow my eyes to fall closed as he holds me and kisses my forehead while his voice reassures me that I’m his. As if words mean something in our world.
SEVENTY-FOUR
HAIDYN
She cries herself to sleep in my arms. The clock is ticking, and the hourglass is running out of sand. Closing in on the time I have left with my wife. I wish I could rewind our past. I’d change so many things about our relationship…or lack thereof. But isn’t that what life is all about? You live and learn.
I’ve learned that it’s okay to love someone no matter how little time you get with them.
I kiss her forehead, my lips lingering for a few seconds, feeling how warm she is. She’ll start to feel better by morning. That will give me one more day with her, and then she’ll live a full life without me. But at least she’ll be alive and well taken care of.
Closing my eyes, I try to dream of the future we could have had if we were born into a different life—where our kids play in the backyard with their puppy while my wife sits on my lap on the back porch with my arms wrapped around her and a smile on her face. I’ve never been one to dream, but she makes me believe it’s possible. Some dreams feel real but so do nightmares. What you see in the dark will come to light. So instead of opening my eyes, I choose to keep them closed and fall into a depth that not even the devil could pull me out of.
My eyes spring open, and I sit up when I see I’m alone in her bed. “Charlotte?” I shout, my heart instantly racing. “Charlotte?”