Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Except Silas Wembley isn't hero material. When I needed protection, he was the last person I thought about. He's the man I grew up next door to, nothing more. That's all he's ever been to me. It's all he ever would have been to me. Now, he's a monster.
"I never would have given myself to you," I snarl. "Never."
He laughs in my face, climbing the stairs toward me. "You think this was about you, Hope? Taking you to my bed would have been a nice bonus, but you were never the prize. You were just a means to an end. The money was the prize." He stops in front of me, his boots touching the toes of my ballet flats. "One million dollars. Only an idiot walks away from cash like that."
"Then I guess I'm an idiot."
"You said it, not me."
"Some things are more important, Silas. This land has been in my family for generations. It's the only connection I have left to my family. Money can't replace any of that."
"And loyalty to bones rotting in the ground can't keep you fed and warm," he snaps. "Get inside, Hope."
"Why? So you can shoot me in the living room? No, thanks."
"I'm not going to shoot you. You're going to clear the security footage," he says. "And then you're going to tell the world that Thomas Huntington showed up here, threatening to kill you. You'll tell the world that he admitted to everything. And then you're going to sell the land to me."
"If I don't?"
"Then I kill your boyfriend." He smiles at me, the same damning, pleasant smile he always wears. It's so patently false, I don't know how I never saw it before now. "And then you. The choice is yours."
Chapter Twelve
Callum
"Callum."
I glance up from the paperwork the insurance adjuster left for Hope to see Finn striding across the parking lot toward me, a deep furrow between his brows and his lips pursed. He looks worried. The fact that he's not with Cormac worries me. He was supposed to go with him to have a not-so-polite chat with Huntington.
Fuck.
I toss the paperwork into the passenger side of my truck and jog across the parking lot toward him, meeting him halfway. "What's up?"
"I found something," he says.
"What?"
"You aren't going to like it."
"Tell me."
"Silas Wembley and Thomas Huntington have been in contact." He pulls his phone out of his pocket, glancing over his shoulder to make sure we're alone. "I shouldn't have this, but I hacked into Wembley's phone records. He's been talking to Huntington two or three times a week for the last two and a half months."
"Jesus Christ," I breathe, my stomach sinking to my feet. "The motherfuckers are working together." Why didn't I see it before? I know why. Because I wanted it to be Silas so goddamn badly it never crossed my mind that it could be both of them.
"There's more," Finn warns me. He pulls up an email chain on his phone, dated yesterday.
To: cbeeson@ransomoil.org
From: thuntington@ransomoil.org
Subject: Silver Spoon Falls Property
I've advised our partner that we're no longer interested in the property. Expect trouble. Should I warn the girl?
-T
To: thuntington@ransomoil.org
From: cbeeson@ransomoil.org
Re: Silver Spoon Falls Property
Yes. Minimize blowback. You know what to do.
-Charles
"Looks like they let Silas know they were pulling out of whatever deal they made with him," Finn says. "I'm guessing because they think Arakas is her cousin. And it sounds like they were intending to warn her about him to take the heat off of them."
"That's what it sounds like to me too." I drag my phone from my pocket, fury pumping through my system as I dial Cormac's number.
"Yo."
"I need you to get back to Hope's," I growl. "Silas Wembley is our guy. If I find him, I'm killing him."
"Shit, brother. If you're asking me to stop you, you called the wrong motherfucker today. I might just help." Cormac blows out a breath. "I just checked Huntington's room. He's not here. I'll head back to Hope's."
"Meet you there."
I disconnect and dial Dillon. He's around here somewhere, but I don't have time to chase his ass down. I need to get to my girl now. She's out there alone, and Silas is right next door.
"Are you heading out?" Dillon asks as soon as he answers.
"Silas Wembley was working with Thomas Huntington. Finn found phone records. He also found emails from Thomas Huntington to someone at Ransom about pulling out of their deal with Silas. They were going to warn Hope. Finn and I are heading to her place now. Cormac is meeting us there."
"Shit," Dillon growls. "I'm on my way."
"You better beat me there, Dillon," I say quietly. "If I find him before you do, I'll kill him. I don't give a fuck if you're the sheriff. You won't be able to stop me."
"Who the fuck says I'd try?" He hangs up on me.