Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Eva shoots me a questioning look. I nod in approval.
“Yes, sweetie,” Eva says, kneeling by the edge of the pool. “Are you having fun?”
While Eva chatters with Kaitlyn, I sit down beside Hadley. “How’s she been?”
Hadley chuckles. “Full of energy. She’s adorable. I can’t wait until this one is that age.”
I smile at her baby and ache to hold my own. “Thank you. I’m just happy she isn’t being adversely affected by what all she’s seen.”
“Trauma, trauma everywhere,” Hadley mutters under her breath. “My husband told me what she witnessed. Playing in the pool is a good distraction from that.”
I watch as Eva pulls off her sandals and puts her legs in the water. Kaitlyn, with her floaties on her arms, paddles back and forth in front of her new grandma, babbling about anything and everything.
“They’re making a plan,” I tell Hadley. “It’s going to bring a lot of bad people down.”
“Good.”
“I’m going to help.” I meet her curious gaze. “Can Eva and Kaitlyn stay here where it’s safe? Will you look after them?”
She nods without hesitation. “Of course. The guys aren’t going to let anything happen to any of us girls.” Her head cocks to the side. “I’m surprised they allowed you to go.”
I snort out a laugh that makes her sleeping baby briefly jump. “I didn’t ask for permission. They don’t own me. I’ll do what I want.”
Her grin is pretty and slightly wicked. “Love it. Can’t wait to hear them try to tell you you’re not going.” Her smile falls and she points to my belly. “Sure that’s a good idea? Pregnancy is hard enough without a little vigilante justice involved.”
I rub my stomach where my little girl’s foot is jabbing me. “Caius will protect me.”
“He’s cute. I heard about your story with him. Sounds a little fucked up if you ask me.”
“It is a little fucked up,” I agree. “He was a total prick in the beginning. But he grew on me. I’m going to marry that man one day.”
“The bad ones are the best,” Hadley says dreamily.
Caius may have been imbedded in a bad family, but he was never evil to his core like the others. I must’ve sensed that about him from the second I laid eyes on him. Maybe, on some cellular level, I knew he was my soulmate and the same boy I’d seen all those years ago.
“They only pretend to be bad,” I tell her with a smile. “They’re pretty sweet and gooey and good on the inside.”
“A bunch of burnt marshmallows.”
I giggle at her summation of our men. Great. Now I want s’mores.
Caius
Two weeks later…
Why did I allow Romy to come?
I’ve been uneasy the entire last leg of our trip to Lake Erie, shooting more and more worried glances her way. She’s in no condition to do what we’re setting out to do.
“I’m not your captive anymore,” she says, smirking at me. “Willing captives don’t count.”
Her blue eyes glitter with challenge. The fiery, strong spirit inside her is impossible to ignore. She’s a fully capable woman who can take care of herself, but she still needs protection from the evils of this world, especially heavily pregnant with my child.
That’s what unnerves me the most.
My track record with protecting her sucks. I failed when we were kids and briefly locked eyes at the facility where we essentially traded places. When Theo kidnapped her, I wasn’t able to protect her from us Crownes and our manipulating ways. Now we’re headed to the same lake where I couldn’t prevent what Gareth did to her last winter.
Can I protect her this time?
“Do you like this?”
I’m forced to pull my stare from Romy to look at the girl in the front seat, sitting next to Nees. She holds up her iPad. It’s a self-portrait of herself standing on a pile of angry-looking people. They’re covered in blood and she’s holding the knife while wearing a bright smile. Her shirt says, “I AM LULU.”
This artwork isn’t creepy at all.
“That’s…detailed,” I say, shooting LuLu a concerned look. “How’s therapy going again?”
Nees snorts out a laugh from up front. LuLu rolls her eyes at me. The time we’ve been apart really helped her find her identity again. She now has a nose piercing, wears sparkly eyeshadow, and has a whole skater vibe going with her baggy band T-shirt and wide leg jeans.
“Therapy is fine,” LuLu grumbles. “In fact, Penelope says art is a great way to express my emotions.”
“You do know you and Romy are sitting things out once we get there, right?” I remind her for the millionth time. “The guys and I will handle shit. I can’t handle shit if I’m worrying about you two.”
LuLu glances at Romy and then flashes me a saccharine-sweet smile. She’s sassy and outspoken when people aren’t actively abusing her, stealing her innocence, or mindfucking her. It’s as if I really do have a little sister and LuLu is it.