Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Gracen’s hand falls away and her head snaps up to look at Marek in disbelief. Owen takes a step toward her and holds his hand out. “Gracen…come here to me. You and I are getting married, and it’s happening right now.”
“She’s not fucking marrying you, and I’ll be damned if you think you’re going to raise my kid,” Marek growls as he takes a step toward Owen.
I immediately place myself in his path, stiff arming him with a hand to his chest. Thankfully, he halts.
“Gracen,” Owen says in a placating tone. “We love each other. This is our big day. Don’t let him ruin it.”
I watch Gracen’s face closely. A sign that what Owen just said is true. That they love each other. I don’t get a single bit of acknowledgment in her blank gaze back at him.
“Gracen,” Marek says, and his tone is not placating. It’s hard, ruthless, and not receptive to any argument. “You either come with me right now, or so help me God, I’ll use every dime of the considerable fortune I have to take Lilly away from you and you’ll never see her again.”
I cringe again, this time visibly, and I can’t control the groan of dismay that comes out of me. “Marek…dude. Not cool.”
“Make your decision, Gracen,” Marek says with so much ice in his voice that I have to suppress a shiver. He pushes past me and opens the door. “I’ll be waiting in the car. You have five minutes to decide.”
And with that, Marek walks out the door and slams it shut behind him.
I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose, trying to forestall a headache that’s forming. I’m going to spank the shit out of Josie for even thinking this could be a good idea.
Chapter 24
Josie
I step into my house and immediately lock my eyes on Reed. I missed him today while he was off gallivanting in New York with Marek to stop a wedding.
“Hey, you,” I say in a tone that comes out all sugary sweet because I’m happy to see him. “Thought you’d be waiting for me naked in bed.”
I walk in and shut the door behind me. Reed sits up on the couch and scrubs his hands over his face, and damn…he looks really tired. He just flew in a few hours ago, and I had been finishing my shift at the hospital. He’d sent me a simple text saying he was back and he’d tell me all about the trip when I got home.
“Sorry,” he says in a gruff voice that definitely sounds fatigued. “Guess I lost track of time.”
I think I might hear a tiny bit of anger in his voice, but I can’t be sure, and besides, I know he was only mildly annoyed at me for suggesting the trip with Marek. He even told me at dinner last night that it was definitely best that Marek confront this situation head on.
Reed leans back against the cushions and kicks his feet up on the coffee table as I walk toward him. His eyes follow me but he doesn’t open up his arms to me like I would expect him to. It makes me feel off balance as he just quietly watches me.
I try to brush off the weird feeling and sit on the opposite end of the couch, folding my legs up under me. “So, tell me everything that happened. Did Marek stop the wedding?”
“Yeah, the wedding got stopped,” Reed says as he rolls his head on the cushion to look at me. The disgust in his voice has me frowning at him.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I say hesitantly.
“Apparently Marek has a daughter he knew nothing about and discovered this little gem of information during the whole stopping-the-wedding process.”
“What?” I exclaim in surprise as I sit up ramrod straight.
“He confronted Gracen privately, and then this little girl walked into the room, and you could tell at a glance she was Marek’s. A big fight ensued. Then Gracen’s fiancé came in and another fight ensued over whether Gracen was going to get married. Marek basically ended the fight by telling her if she didn’t get Lilly—that would be his daughter—and leave with him right then, that he would use all of his money to take Lilly away from her and she’d never see her again.”
“Oh no,” I say in dismay, feeling complete empathy for both Marek and Gracen in this situation. “Surely he didn’t mean it.”
“Oh, he meant it,” Reed says as he sits up and turns to face me. “He gave her no choice. And she apparently wasn’t willing to see if it was a bluff.”
“So she came back with him?” I ask as my gaze swings around Reed’s living room, as if I expect them all to pop out from behind a chair or something.