Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Shut the fuck up.” He snorts. I’m not offended. I know it’s a New York thing.
I actually smile. This is the Cole I remember. He kisses the top of my head once again before he continues.
“I traveled over three thousand miles to come see ya. Do ya really think there’s anyone else?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”
“I haven’t been in a steady relationship in years. I can’t stand airheads, but they seem to love to chase me. I’m too busy for that shit. I stopped fucking around the moment I asked Felix to look for ya.”
“Felix Black?”
“Aye. Wait until everyone sees ya.”
“The Blacks live in New York?”
“No, they’re still in California, but I travel there for business enough. Yer bound to see them all sooner or later.”
“How are they? Yer cousins and Uncle Joe and Aunt Cass?”
“Ach, they’re all doing grand. Keeping busy with the PI and bounty business, as far as I know. We see more of Felix because we’re doing him a favor with a friend.”
“Oh, now that sounds interesting. Is this friend a lass?”
“Aye, they are. Enough about them. Come, I want ya to see what I’ve set up for our date.”
He releases his hold around my head and laces his fingers with mine. I’m a wee bit bereft of his arm around me. It’s such an intimate embrace that says so much about us.
I’m having trouble preventing myself from falling into old comforts around him. With my hand in his, he leads me through the castle. I’ve been here quite a few times when I was younger, before my mum disappeared.
I would come to play with Kate when she was here, and I was with my family for a visit. Mum would bring me and stick around for a bit with Ian and Finlay Black. I can remember a few times when Wyatt, Noah, and John were here visiting too.
The place is still as magical as I remember. There’s something special about the Black Castle. It has an aura of its own.
As Cole leads me down the stairs to the lower level of the castle, my words are only proven to be true. There have been renovations since I last was here. The winding staircase now has new sconces mounted on the walls. Not the old ones that needed to be manually lit.
These have a vintage yet modern vibe about them. They are definitely brighter than they used to be. As we get to the bottom of the stairs, I smile.
I know exactly where he’s taking me. The Black Castle has its own underground indoor pool area. It’s huge. Ian Black once told me that the space had once been a bathhouse. He was the one to turn it into an indoor pool instead.
“I used to love it down here. Kate would get so spooked out, but it has always made me feel … I don’t know,” I say as I lift my shoulders to my ears.
“Like ya were stepping into a whole new world? Isn’t that the song ya would sing every time ya came here?”
I look up at him in shock. “Ya remember that?”
“Aye, ya were cute. The way yer face would light up. I think ya were one of the only ones who got what Granda was doing,” he says.
He was getting us to use our imagination to get out of situations. The pool never once looked the same. One time, there was a dragon whose mouth opened up as a waterslide.
That one was one of my favorites. You had to find your way around the dragon’s body to get to the steps to slide back down. I was one of the first to find the stairs.
“Do you remember that time he had the pool frozen over and we all became human chess pieces?”
“Aye, we all had to work together to play the game. I remember because that was the year Sam came with Logan.”
“Sam?”
“Aye, Logan’s best friend. The Italian.”
“Oh, with the gray eyes. Ach, I do remember him. That was fun.
“All his ideas were fun and made ya think on yer toes.”
“It was all fun and games back then, but now I have to wonder what he was getting us all ready for. I mean, his quests have helped me in training, but—”
“Training?”
Shite. I’ve said too much. The pool area comes into view right in that moment. My eyes widen and I gasp.
“Oh my God, Cole. It’s beautiful. Did ya do this for me?”
He tugs me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. “Aye, I remembered what ya told me ya would want this place to look like if ya could choose the theme. Did I get it right?”
I look around and take it all in. Did he get it right? He did.
It’s better than I imagined in my head. The pool is lit from within with what looks like candles. The light-bluish-green water itself is sparkling as if sprinkled with glitter.