Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“You own a whole company?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
He shrugs again, as though it’s no big deal.
“Lowell Enterprises. It’s been in my family for generations.”
“You said you’d tell me more about your family,” I remind him. “I mean…if you want to.”
“I do.” He sits on the bed beside me. “You deserve to know everything after the way I lied to you. I’m so sorry about that, Sunny. I should have been up-front with you in the beginning.”
“Yes, you should have,” I say, because it’s true. “I still don’t understand why you lied and pretended to be Kane, though.”
Connor sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
“It started as a way to keep myself occupied in prison. About a week after I moved into Kane’s cell, I saw your letter in the trash. I was bored and curious and he clearly didn’t give a shit what happened to it so I took it out and read it.”
I try to remember what I wrote in that letter but it’s impossible—I wrote so many over the years, just praying that my big brother would make contact with me.
“So…you liked my letter?” I ask tentatively.
“I more than liked it.” Kane takes one of my hands in his. “Baby, your letter felt like a ray of light in that dark, dirty cell. It was like I was drowning and you threw me a lifeline.” He sighs. “I wanted to write back but I was afraid if I told you who I was—just some random guy who was your brother’s cellmate—you’d think I was weird and creepy.”
“Well…I probably would have,” I admit. “It would be scary to get a letter from prison from a complete stranger.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Connor says. “So I pretended to be Kane. I didn’t mean for anything to come of it—I really didn’t. I thought you deserved to have a big brother who cared about you for a change.” He shrugs. “So I pretended to be that brother.”
“But then you came to see me and kept pretending,” I pointed out.
“I know—I shouldn’t have done that,” Connor admits, and I can see the contrition in his pale eyes. “But in my defense, I really only meant to stay an hour and have a piece of your famous pie. Then I was going to move on and let you believe that your big brother was happy and doing well. But then you insisted that I stay the night.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” I nod reluctantly. “I just felt so…so drawn to you,” I admit to him. “Though not exactly in a sisterly way.”
“No, clearly not,” he says dryly. “I’m sorry about that, too—making you think you were, uh, doing sexual things with your own brother.”
“You never felt like my brother though,” I tell him. “I think, deep down, I knew you weren’t. I just wanted to be close to you.”
“I felt the same way.” He cups my cheek in one hand. “To be honest, baby, I think you might be my Fated Mate, even though Rogue Alphas like me usually don’t have mates.”
“Fated Mate?” I frown. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re the one woman in the world who’s meant just for me. And I’m the one man in the world for you,” he tells me. “I can tell you that my Wolf certainly thinks you’re our mate. He was miserable when I had to leave you.”
“So your Wolf…likes me?” I remember the huge silver wolf, as big as a pony, fighting Kane’s Wolf to keep me safe.
“He loves you…and so do I,” Connor says in a low voice. “I probably shouldn’t say that, but I can’t help it—it’s how I feel. It’s how I’ve felt from the first minute I picked your letter out of the trash and read it.”
“Oh, Connor…” My heart swells but there’s still something I have to know. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I want to let myself feel the same way for you that you feel for me but I have to know…why were you in prison in the first place? Was it really for…for murder?”
He nods soberly.
“It was. I’m afraid it has to do with my little sister, Bethany.”
“Oh, the one who…who died?” I ask softly.
He nods again.
“She killed herself. After a Were named Rodger Buckly raped her.” His voice grows hard and his eyes flash. “The fucker thought he could get away with it! I found out what had happened after Bethany killed herself—I read her diary,” he adds. “And I went after him. He didn’t even try to deny it!”
“Oh my God, that’s awful!” I exclaim. “I’m so sorry, Connor!”
He shrugs grimly.
“What’s done is done. I killed him and was brought up before the Were Tribunal for judgment. That’s kind of like going to court for a human,” he adds in explanation.
“So what happened? Couldn’t you tell them why you did it?” I ask.