Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
“And I’m givin’ it to you on a silver platter,” I finish.
“Are you?”
I look him in the eyes and lie, “I am.”
I may be taking away their land, but no, I’m not giving it to Mars. But these things are for later. “Now, if I’ve answered all your questions, I’m gonna go.”
With that, I stand up from my seat, ready to walk out. I’m at the door when I hear him call out to my back: “This won’t bring her back. Nothing ever will. You know that, don’t you?”
My chest is so tight that it feels like it’s about to split open. “I’m not tryin’ to bring her back. I’m tryin’ to avenge her.”
“You’ve done enough.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“You send them money every month.” At this, I turn back to face him, and he goes on, “I know you do. I know you told Rad not to say anything, but eight years is a long time. I figured it out when money started disappearin’ from your account. Same amount, same time.”
“You think money makes up for everythin’?”
Before she died, Annie was the one her family depended on. Her family being her sick mother and her younger brother. And yes, I told Rad to make sure they’re covered. She gave up college to work full-time so she could look after them, so me depositing some money into their account monthly was the least I could do when I was the one responsible for her being gone.
“No,” Mars says. “But you never wondered, did you?”
I stiffen then. “Wondered about what?”
He watches me a beat. “She was new in town. No one knew where she came from. You met her once at the town fair and took up with her.”
“And?”
Again, Mars takes his time with it before saying, “So did it never occur to you that maybe, just maybe, she was takin’ advantage of you? Of who you are.”
It’s true that when I met her Annie was new in town. She’d just graduated high school and moved two towns over with her sick mother and her younger brother to start a new job as the wrangler at one of the ranches. So when I met her at the local fair, she had no idea who I was or where I came from. Other girls wanted to tie me down and take advantage of me being a Grayson. So even though she was the one to pursue me, I found her ignorance refreshing. Whatever the case, though, my brother has no business talking about things he’ll never understand.
I clench my jaw for a few seconds before somehow gathering myself and my anger and clipping, “Don’t talk about what you know nothin’ about.”
He shoots me a grave look. “I may know more than you think.”
I study him for a few moments. “Eight years is a long time, ain’t it? Maybe that’s why you don’t remember. That you’re responsible for her death too. Turners have always wanted our land but they never stood a chance. Not until you. Not until you took over and started that little program. I told you to shut it down. We all told you to shut it down before it was too late, before they came for it and used it to take your precious fuckin’ land. But you wouldn’t listen. And Annie paid the price for it. So let me remind you: You don’t know anything about her. You don’t know anything about my relationship with her. But like me and the fuckin’ Turners, you killed her too. Which means it doesn’t matter if she was takin’ advantage of me or not, her death is on all our heads. And I’m gonna do everything I can to avenge her. The only reason I’m lettin’ your little program survive is because we’re blood and you weren’t the one who rigged the barn that night. So I want you to remember that or the next thing I’m comin’ for is you.”
I don’t wait to find out what his reaction is because I don’t give a fuck. Besides, I’ve been inside this house long enough and I need to get out. But once again I’m waylaid.
“Hey,” Haven greets me as she comes up the hallway.
I jerk my chin up at her.
“I got her settled,” she tells me.
Again, I let the current pass through me. “Thanks.”
“In your room.”
“What?”
She raises her hands in surrender. “She insisted. I offered her another room but she wouldn’t go.”
For a few seconds, I tamp down the urge to go in search of her myself. To bust down the door of my old room and demand to know what the fuck she was thinking. Why the fuck would she stay in a place that belongs to me? To the man who kidnapped her. Who forced her to marry him. Who then dragged her through the woods, put her through the kind of trauma that she’ll have nightmares about for the better part of her life. She should be running away from me, from all reminders of me. She should be trying to find a way to call the cops, or the Turners.