Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 91064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“I don’t want your money.”
She scoffs again, and the woman is the worst of humanity. I see that now. The mothers who breed their pedigree children and parade them around like show ponies.
Scarlett deserved better than that.
She deserved better than a mammy like her.
“The only thing I’ve ever wanted was for your daughter to be happy,” I tell her. “But I see why she left this place. Why she left you.”
“You know nothing,” Mrs. Albright snarls.
“I know that if ye were any sort of a mother, you’d have moved heaven and earth to find her. To avenge her. But don’t ye concern yourself with it now. She’s got a new family. One who actually looks after her.”
Twenty-Nine
Scarlett
Time to dust off my broom. The bitch is back.
Whiskey has made himself right at home in Rory’s place.
I’m still waiting for him to ask where the cat came from or why he’s here, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t ask anything, and he doesn’t tell the cat to get out of the bed or off his clothes, and on more than one occasion I’ve caught Rory petting him. Things have started to appear. Cat things. Toys and bowls and food. A litter box, even.
I didn’t buy them, so that leaves only one possible culprit.
There are things for me too. Small things. With more accumulating each day. A toothbrush. A hairbrush. A blow dryer.
They appear out of nowhere when I’m not looking.
Rory doesn’t ask why I’ve spent the last week here.
That makes it easy, and it’s better this way. He’s happy and I’m not out wreaking havoc and I think the thing he loves most is having me in his bed at night. Waiting for him. Rory is a creature of habit. He comes in late at night, showers, and slips into bed behind me.
There’s always a few whispered words between us, and then he’s inside of me. On top of me.
The way he likes it.
Tonight, as we’re lying in the darkness and he’s on the verge of drifting off to sleep, I wonder how long this can go on for.
I can’t go back to my apartment.
Alexander is out for blood and I can’t be lounging around Rory’s all day and getting soft.
I need to find him first.
I need to end this.
“You haven’t been back to your apartment.”
Rory’s voice startles me.
He always falls asleep after he fucks me.
Tonight, though, Whiskey is on his chest, purring up a storm. I’m a little miffed that the cat has taken a liking to him so quickly. I had to earn that shit. But Rory? He was in with bro code and a single pat on the head.
Typical fucking men.
“Would you rather I were home in my own bed then?” I ask.
He plops Whiskey between us and tangles his legs with mine, reaching over to touch my face.
“I’d rather you were in my bed every night,” he says. “If we’re being honest.”
“Well if we’re being honest, I like it here. So maybe I’ll keep crashing for a few days. I think I’m going to need a new apartment, anyhow.”
“I know ye haven’t had an easy life, Scarlett,” Rory says. “And I know that ye have your reasons not to trust anyone. But there’s something I want to say.”
I fall into his neck and breathe him in, relaxing into his body. There are moments like this, when his strength is so tangible to me, so potent, nothing else can touch me. I’ve never leaned on anyone this way. It’s easy to get lost in these moments. To forget why I was so hell bent on destroying my only real ally.
Rory is strong, both mentally and physically. But he has one fatal flaw.
And that’s caring for me.
“I told ye once before that I didn’t want to play games with you,” he says. “That I was done with it. With you. I was wrong, Scarlett. Because if there’s one thing I need ye to know, it’s this. I’m not ever going to give up on you. I’m not ever going to be like the people who walked out of your life and hurt you. I’m in your corner, always. And I will go to battle for ye every single day for the rest of my life, so long as I have you by my side.”
I don’t know where any of this is coming from. But it makes me paranoid. Something has changed, and I need to know what it is.
“I’m going for broke here,” he says. “I’m just going to lay it out for you, baby doll. I want to do everything with you, Scarlett. I want to fuck shit up. I want to get ye in a family way. I want my last name to be your last name. And I’m willing to fight for those things. For as long as it takes. So you can push me away, but I’m not going anywhere. And I need ye to know that.”