Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 843(@200wpm)___ 674(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 843(@200wpm)___ 674(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
“No. I suspected but never knew for sure,” he answers and reaches out to me.
I pull away, but he grips my arm and yanks me to my feet. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? Any possibility of her being alive would have been better than knowing she was dead.”
He frowns as if that thought never crossed his mind.
“Is that why you married me?” I demand, pulling myself free of his grip.
“What?” he barks out, getting equally angry.
“Because you wanted to make her jealous?” I’ve been trying to figure out why he married me. This has to be the reason, right? So it would get back to her, and she’d come running to him? That’s why he kept her from me.
He glares at me, jaw sharpening. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why did you marry me?” I shove his chest. “It was because of her, wasn’t it?” I’m shouting, my body vibrating. I knew there was a reason, and she must have been it.
He reaches into his pocket and removes a cell phone, shoving it into my hand. “What … whose is this?” I ask, sniffing.
“Look at the messages,” he commands.
My shaking fingers open the first one, and I gasp when I see it’s a picture of me. I’m at the house of Lords party, sitting at the table with Tyson, Ryat, and Blakely. Sin and Ellington had gotten up to go greet a friend of theirs. “I don’t understand,” I whisper.
“This is Whitney’s cell phone,” he tells me.
“No.”
“Fuck, Lake.” He yanks it from my hands. “How much proof do you need?” He shows me another picture of me working at Blackout. “She sent the pictures to your phone.”
“She couldn’t have,” I argue even though I see one of the same pictures I had seen on my phone. “My father gave me…” I trail off, my watery eyes meeting his, and his face softens.
Cupping my cheek, he whispers, “I’m sorry, little darling. I wish it wasn’t true.”
“My father knew.” My voice cracks.
“I went through her phone.” He speaks softly. “The day of our wedding, Luke contacted her, informing her that I was marrying you. She was here within a matter of days.”
I wrap my arms around my shaking body.
“I tried, Lake. I tried to get tabs on her. To get ahead of it, but they were very quiet. I had men on Luke twenty-four seven, tracking him, and they never made contact with one another.”
“You said they’re married.” I frown. “How could he have married me if he was already married to her? I don’t understand.”
SIXTY-FIVE
TYSON
I’m sitting in my room at the house of Lords when my cell rings. It’s a blocked number. Not unusual. The Lords always hide their identity. “This is Tyson,” I answer.
“I’ve got some information for you.”
I sit up straighter and turn off the TV so no distractions. “What’d you find out.”
“They’re married. Or at least were.”
“No.”
“Yep. Three weeks ago. To Luke Cabot.”
I’m not surprised. She’s nothing but a lying, vindictive bitch who will do whatever Daddy tells her to do. “Thanks, man.”
“Hey, Ty. I’d watch my back if I were you. Her father is trying to set you up for something.”
“I know.” When two families merge, especially powerful ones, there is always a big scene made about it. It might come a week later, but it comes nonetheless. That’s what we do. We show off our power, our wealth. Why hide the fact that Luke is her husband?
“He was never going to be married to you, Lake,” I say truthfully.
“Was he going to stand me up?” She frowns, not understanding. Why would she? Lake doesn’t know what kind of man Luke really is.
I grab the backpack Ryat brought and pull out the file, holding it to her.
She opens it up and gags when she sees the pictures. I reach out for her, but she takes a step back, eyes still on it. “What … this is her?” Her wide, watery eyes meet mine. “Tyson, this is the girl.”
I nod, following her as she walks to the pew closest to the doors and falls down into it. I stand in the aisle, bloody hands shoved into my jeans. “Who did this to her?” Tears fall down her cheeks. “W-hy?” Her voice cracks on the single word.
When I don’t answer, she looks up at me. Her eyes go to Luke who still sits tied to the chair at the front by the altar. “He did this?”
I don’t answer.
“Why would he do this to her?” She angrily wipes the tears from her eyes.
“Because she was at Blackout,” I say simply. Four women have gone missing over the last six months from Blackout. Only one had been reported. The others never will. They’re long gone. On a boat or on a plane. They’ve been sold to the highest bidder and will spend the rest of their life begging for death to come sooner rather than later.