Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
He loves me. Enough to topple kingdoms and wage war for me.
Triton doesn't get to take that way. This man is mine, and I'm not giving him up. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
Chapter Ten
Dalton
"Open up, Triton!" I growl, pounding on the door to his hotel room. The sun is barely over the horizon, but I don't fucking care how early it is. Tempest cried half the night, devastated because her goddamn cousin is a manipulative prick. I'm not waiting for the asshole to make a move against her. Fuck that.
Jake and I have been compiling evidence against him for two fucking days. I know everything—the drugs, the women, the gambling. He's in deep with no way out. He thought Evernight would be his ticket. He's fucking wrong. He can crawl out of his hole himself because he isn't touching her company.
He rips the door open, shirtless and bleary-eyed, his hair all fucked up from the pillow. "What the fuck do you want?"
That's as far as I let him get before I grab him by the throat, shoving him back into his room.
"You manipulative son of a bitch," I growl, slamming him up against the wall so hard that a piece of framed art clatters to the floor.
He tries to buck me off, hands scrabbling at my grip, but I'm not having it. I squeeze tighter, watching his face redden.
"Get the fuck off me," he snarls.
I ignore him, not interested in anything he has to say.
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully," I tell him, my voice a low rumble next to his ear. "I live and breathe for your cousin. If you don't want everyone you owe finding out exactly where the fuck you are, don't ever try to come between us again. Evernight belongs to her. Try to take it, and I will destroy you."
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," Triton lies, still struggling in my grip.
"Yeah, you do." I release his throat, shoving him away from me.
He stumbles before he manages to catch himself, glaring balefully at me. But he isn't stupid enough to charge at me. I think he knows exactly how that would end for him. He may have twenty pounds on me, but while he spends his time snorting coke and drinking, I'm in the goddamn gym every day.
"I've got every piece of evidence I need to bury you." Taking a menacing step towards him, I let all my rage blaze in my eyes. "And I won't even do it legally, motherfucker. I'll let your goddamn bookies and dealers fight over your scraps."
Fear flickers across Triton's face and I smile coldly, glad to see it. Good. He's listening. He knows I'm dead fucking serious.
"Stay the fuck away from Tempest," I snarl before turning on my heel and storming out, slamming the door behind me.
I meant every word. If Triton comes for Evernight or tries to get near Tempest again, I will ruin him. I'll spill every dirty secret the motherfucker has—and there are so many more than Tempest will ever know. Her cousin is a piece of shit through and through. But I'll be damned if I let him hurt her again.
That's over and done with, effective immediately.
But I'm not done with him. Not yet.
My grandfather's loud complaints reach me long before I step into his room an hour later to find him glaring daggers at the petite nurse changing his IV bag.
He looks better every day. His hand still trembles faintly, but the droop on the left side of his face is gone. The doctor is concerned about his blood pressure, though. It's been high. Probably because the crotchety old bastard is always mad at something.
"I don't need this shit," he complains, flicking the IV line. "I just need that asshole doc to let me out of here."
I lean against the door frame, a smirk tugging at my lips. The old man never changes. "Leave her alone and eat your pudding, old man."
He whips his head in my direction, his eyes narrowing when he catches sight of me. "Oh. You're back," he mutters.
A loud laugh bursts from my lips. "Hello to you, too."
"Don't you have a new wife to annoy?" he retorts. "Why are you always here, annoying the hell out of me?"
"So you're in good spirits today, huh?" I ask, unable to resist needling him. "Was your sponge bath too cold?"
"Unhook me, nurse. I need to get out of this bed to stick my foot up his ass."
The nurse chuckles softly, stepping away from the bed as if to say she wants no part in this. "I'm going to leave you two alone to work this one out." She meets my gaze over his head, rolling her eyes. "Good luck."
"He doesn't need luck. He needs sense," the old man sniffs haughtily. "If he had any, he'd be at home with his wife instead of here."