Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“As I was saying, she’s been living like a robot for the past fifteen years or so. She was willing to marry a man she didn’t love and who obviously didn’t love her. What does that tell you? She has a scar on her heart, and I’m going to heal it.”
“Ask me anything you’d like; I’ll be honest with you. You may even request a lie detector test if you’d like one as well.”
“Let us think, this is a lot to take in, but no matter what, the decision is Alyssa’s.”
“Bri, what’re you saying?” His second brother asked.
“He knows her.” That’s all he had to say, it seems, to get the rest of them to see his views.
“So, what now?” Trey asked.
“Now, we wait and see what she has to say. That doesn’t mean that we’re agreeing to anything just yet. But she should have the first say. Dad, you’re being very quiet.”
“I, uh, I don’t really know if I have the place to do that. It’s obvious he knows about our family background, so maybe he doesn’t think that I am an authority figure in love and marriage.”
“I still don’t understand why you think you know her so well after just one meeting.”
“That’s easy, Cam. I saw all I needed to in the way she handled this last crisis. Stone cold rage. It’s the most dangerous kind there is, worse even than instant rage that burns hot and fazes out. That kind of rage festers and grows and can become very dark.”
“None of this makes any sense. How would this work? Will she have to move to the West Coast to be with you?”
“No, I won’t do that to her; you guys are her tethers; you’ve been her anchor ever since the divorce. No, we’ll be living in her favorite place.”
“You can’t mean the mansion; how do you know about that?”
“I not only know about it, I already bought it.”
“That can’t be; that place isn’t for sale.”
“Everything is for sale once you’ve got the right buyer.”
“What if she doesn’t agree to marry you? What then?”
“Then I might use the house as a bribe to get her to see the error of her ways. That’s a joke. Maybe.”
“Wait, what do you mean you saw it that day? How do you know about that? Did she tell you?”
“Your sister has had her own security team about two hours after she left my sight. They report to me about her safety. Stalkerish I know, but you have no idea the danger she would be in if anyone knew what I felt for her.”
“Who did you tell?”
“No one, but I wasn’t taking the chance that someone might catch on, so I had to put things in place because I won’t take chances with her.”
“How would someone catch on if you don’t say anything?”
“I have no idea how I was looking at her that day, but I know it’s not my usual. There’s always someone watching me, taking pictures of me. I didn’t want anyone catching that look and putting two and two together before I had her protected.”
“Well, that’s kind of…”
“I think your sister would call it anal, Trey.”
“She would!” She walked into the room with her mother.
“I wondered how long it was going to take you to stop eavesdropping and get in here.”
“You knew I was listening?”
“Not at first, no, but I smelt your perfume and knew you were close by.”
ALYSSA
I’m not sure that I like the fact that he knows me this well. I’d been standing just outside the door listening. It hadn’t been my intention, but when I got close enough to hear him mention my childhood trauma, it kind of stopped me in my tracks.
No one outside of myself knows the truth in those words. His investigation couldn’t have picked up on that so he had to have spent a lot of time since the time we met piecing the picture of me together.
I love my brothers and know they love me, too, but no one has ever gotten me like this. This was a whole other level of knowing. I was so lost in my head I didn’t hear part of the conversation that carried on around me.
“What was that?”
“I was just telling your brothers that they can’t heal your hurt, that they’ve done all they could do and more, but it’s time for a different kind of healing.” I know this crazy freak wasn’t talking to my brothers about having sex with me. Since he was still walking upright, I guess it went right over their heads.
“Where did your mind go, little Alyssa?” He had the nerve to shake his head at me as if he could read my mind.
“You don’t wanna have this conversation here because I will answer you.”
“It’s up to you.” Oh, this bastard, is he matching wits with me?