Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
And waited.
And waited.
Goodness. How long does it take to—?
Giggles interrupted my train of thought.
“Shh. Over here.” Rafael and Saylor stumbled into my line of sight—her hands all over him like she grew two other pairs. He stopped her within feet of the entrance, turning her back to me.
I slipped my phone out of my pocket. At least, it looked like a phone. The stun gun fit so easily in the palm of my hand. Why didn’t everyone have one of these?
“Finally.” Saylor draped her arms around my boyfriend’s shoulders. “You played hard to get too long, Dumont. You almost missed your chance.”
“I was waiting for the right time, darling. It’s all about”—he flicked over her shoulder—“timing.”
Straightening, my finger poised over the button. You’re about to wake up in your worst nightmare, Burkhardt.
A hand clapped over my mouth.
Yanked back, the stun phone clattered on the welcome mat—replacing my shoes as they slid across the tile.
“Shh. Don’t scream. I need to—”
I jabbed my elbow into hard flesh, ripping a grunt into my ear. His hold loosened and I broke free, racing for the stun gun.
“Sinclair, wait! You have to listen to me.”
That voice stopped me dead in my tracks. Spinning around, I faced Giovanni Natale.
He hunched over clutching his stomach. Glassy eyes peered at me through wincing lids.
“What are you doing here? You weren’t invited.” Even as the words left my mouth, one look at him said he wasn’t here for a party.
His pajamas were a ratty oversized paint-splattered t-shirt and pair of sweatpants. His hair, his most proud feature, pulled back in a greasy, haphazard ponytail. A shadow’s dusting covered his normally clean-shaven jaw. The guy was a mess.
“Why did you grab me like that?” I snapped, widening the distance. “If you followed me in here for a fight, I promise you, Natale, you won’t win this one.”
“I’m not here to fight you. Will you just listen!” he burst out. “There are things you need to know.”
I stopped backing toward the stun gun. “What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t sign up for this.” Giovanni clutched his head, pacing back and forth. “It was an easy dare. A simple one. Date some girl and dump her.”
I froze. Winter.
“But I didn’t sign up for this,” he cried, thumping his chest. “No, not bombs. Not murder! Ashton fucking died for this shit and I will not be next. All I did was dump her. I didn’t do any of the shit the others did.”
I frowned following his rushed, agitated speech. “Giovanni... are you high?”
He laughed out loud, reeling me back. “Of course I’m high. My lawyers called this afternoon. I’m on tape starting the fight with Ashton, days after leaving my girlfriend at the bottom of the bluffs and walking away from an explosion. The police want to talk to me first thing in the morning,” he said, laughing louder. “I’m their number one suspect. Can you believe that? Me.”
“Yes.” I plumbed those glassy, darting depths. “I can believe it.”
His smile wiped away. “That’s because you don’t know the truth. But I do now. Ashton’s death?” Giovanni shook his head roughly. “That was what they wanted.
“All because of T.O.D Club.”
“T.O.D?” I repeated. “What is that?”
Giovanni threw up his hands. “It’s the reason all of this started. T.O.D. Truth or dare.”
“What about it?”
“It was a dare, okay? Someone dared me to date your sister, string her along for a while, then brutally dump her.”
“A dare?” Bile rose in my throat. “A dare club? Is that what sick fucks like you do? Make a children’s game out of people’s lives! Dared you to break my sister’s heart? Why didn’t you say no!”
“Because the penalties for saying no are worse than anything I could’ve done to her,” he shouted. “People get dumped every fucking day, Sinclair. How was I supposed to know what was going on?”
“Is that how you justify what you’ve done?” My nails pierced my palms. “Lots of people get dumped, so I can lie and manipulate my way into the pants of a sweet, innocent person.”
“I didn’t say I deserve a medal for it,” he said, jabbing a finger at me. “I only did it because the reward was insane. More than has ever been offered for a dare in the history of the club. I had a feeling something wasn’t right, but it was too much to turn down.”
Closing the distance, I punched him in the face. “Argh!” Howling, Giovanni hit the floor, covering his eye.
“If you justify what you did to Winter one more time, I swear. You’re a monster, Natale!”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! I didn’t mean to be!” He staggered to his feet, nearly tripping into the pool. “This is the kind of shit you do in T.O.D, Sinclair. You fuck with people—play pranks. It’s not a club for pussies.