Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
“We can work out those finances.” He’s scouring my eyes for what I’m thinking, feeling—what I might do. “We can share.”
“We can’t.” I step forward—so close our forearms touch. “Because here’s the thing, Varrick, you aren’t the Lone Wolfe. You aren’t the Big Bad Wolfe. You’re just a fucking termite who’s eaten away at my family tree.” Fireworks pop, sizzle—paint our livid faces purple again. “And you’ve been gnawing on his.” I motion my head toward Nova. “His sister. His mother.” Another step forward.
“Brayden—”
“Phoebe isn’t pregnant.”
His face falls. I devour his sheer shock, then his torment at realizing…he was conned. “No…?”
“Surprise,” I say dryly. “There is no baby.”
“No, there…” He squints at me as fireworks explode in aggressive, quick succession. “You’re lying.” He begins to smile. “If it’s Hailey, we can work something out. This isn’t the end—”
“This is the end,” Nova cuts in. Before I can send him a warning look to stay out of this, he shoves me so hard, I careen into the seat.
And then he tells his father, “Never again.”
Nova barrels into Varrick with an unrelenting, merciless impact, forcing him overboard. And they plunge into the dark water…together.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! I bend over the boat. I see no one. No heads pop out of the rough ocean. The current is strong tonight. The water lights up in gold as fireworks crack one after the other. There is no pause in the sky.
Nova is killing his father.
Nova is going to drown with him. Because he’s not trained to hold his breath beneath the water like I am.
“NOVA!” I scream, and on impulse, I wave over at neighboring boats. “They fell in! Get help!!” Ladies on a yacht understand my frantic energy. Phones go to ears. This needs to appear like a drunken accident, but also, we actually need EMS.
I’m going to kill Nova if he’s not already dead.
They’re not coming up for air. No one is coming up.
I don’t think anymore. “I’m sorry, Phoebe.” She might lose more than a brother tonight. Quickly, I step onto the seat, the edge of the boat, and I dive into the water. Salt burns my eyes. It’s so fucking dark.
I swim around, diving and coming up for air. People yell at me from a neighboring speedboat. Saying they’re looking, too. I dive again around where they fell in. I swim deeper and deeper, and that’s when I feel a sinking body.
Familiar.
Brother.
Hers.
I know him. I know him too well, and I should’ve known he would do this before I could. It was supposed to be me.
Me pushing Varrick into the water. Me dragging Varrick down. Me hoping Varrick wouldn’t drown me with him. Me hopefully coming up for air and acting like I accidentally fell in.
Now, I’m wrapping my arms around Nova’s body. I kick to the surface. Nova is all heavy soaked muscle. He’s gone. He’s gone. Not breathing. Not moving. I breach the water, and I keep him against my chest while I kick my legs toward the swim platform of the Salty Miss.
I grit my teeth and scream between them.
It takes so much fucking energy to lift him onto the platform. When I’m on the hard surface with him, I check his pulse. None. I start compressions on his chest.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” I hear a lady on the nearest boat.
“Call 911!” another screams.
“Is someone still in the water?!” they’re shouting at me.
I act like I can’t hear. Like I’m too busy trying to save my wife’s brother, and I fucking am. I give Nova mouth-to-mouth, then restart compressions. I feel his ribs crack beneath my pumping hands. “Come on, Nov. Come on.” My eyes sear, burn, scald. He can’t die. He can’t die tonight. Please don’t fucking die.
Please, Nov.
Please.
This is my job.
My responsibility.
To protect them. To protect him.
I can’t lose another family member to the water. “Come on, Nov!” I shout with another hard compression. His face is pallid. His head jostles with my movements.
I scream.
A tortured, furious, agonized scream tears through me like an animal I’ve never let out—that I’ve never been allowed to release—not in my entire life. Don’t fucking die.
Don’t die.
Please.
It should’ve been me.
One minute is an eternity. The next time I blow air into his lungs…Nova begins to choke. Quickly, I turn him on his side while he coughs up the sea. Relief is a sledgehammer against my body. After he gets it all out, I collapse backward.
We’re both spent. Exhausted. Breathing too hard as we chase after oxygen and stare at each other for a long, long moment.
Fireworks blast around us. He can read my pained gaze that says, You weren’t supposed to go in with him.
That wasn’t part of the plan.
It was always supposed to be me.
His eyes are bloodshot. “I had to…” He pants. “I had to make sure he wasn’t coming back, Rock.” He wanted it to be over.