Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“Once she’s laid to rest peacefully, we’ll— I don’t know, charter a boat and leave this miserable place behind.”
Alex blinked at me. “We?”
“Yes, we?” I cocked a brow at him. “You don’t really plan to be parted from your dream girl, do you?”
A slow grin lit up his beautiful, sinful eyes. “Girl, I wouldn’t be parted from you if you killed me. And forget my fucking dreams because the reality is so much better.”
“Then stop talking,” I whispered, leaning in, “and kiss me already.”
Alex snapped me to his chest before I finished my sentence. Flinging away the evidence that could put him away for life, Alex cupped the back of my neck and crashed his lips on mine.
The world fell away.
All the blood, pain, and tragedies of the present and past—none of it touched us as our bodies fit together—two puzzle pieces left in the box, finally becoming whole.
Alex didn’t mess around or ask for permission. He broke the seal and tangled with my tongue, teaching it the true meanings of ceasefire and surrender—and I surrendered.
I went limp in his hold, giving in to pure, explosive bliss. Fireworks lit in my mind. Electricity surged through my veins. Waves crashed through my body, making me writhe and shiver in his strong, steadying arms.
I moaned into the kiss, giving myself over to him completely.
We were all liars and thieves. We wore masks to hide our true selves, and battled the harsh realities of the world with coldness and duplicity. We ran from the right ways to live, and the proper ways to be, but when we were done running, Micah, Rhodes, Alex, and I ended up in the same place—
Together.
Alex heaved me squealing over his shoulder and marched out the door. “Enough. I’ve held myself back for too fucking long. We’re going into that car and fucking in the backseat.”
“Alex!” I cried, laughing my head off next to his shapely tush.
“After that,” he said, “we’re going home. To our family.”
“Yes.” I smiled as he began undressing me before we hit the door. “To our family.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The week after Alex and I made our peace, and made love in a truck, I lay down in Sue’s bed, mulling over all the things that had happened, and would.
It had been a long and terrible road for all of us, but finally, our new start was beginning. Alex and I went back to the hotel and announced to Rhodes and Micah that we were leaving Lantana.
Enough of living in a miserable, haunted house. We were selling the thing, taking the multimillion-dollar check, and making the manor someone else’s problem. With the money from the house sale in our pockets, we’d have enough to return to New York.
Rhodes could devote himself full-time to the New York office—the most profitable branch. Micah would quadruple his potential client pool. Alex would apply to med school—finally embracing his life as Alexander Montgomery without the fear of Fritz Calloway taking everything good away. And I’d stay home with Lily while doing my captioning work during school hours.
Together, we’d build something real, faithful, and happy for all five of us—leaving the ghosts of Lantana behind.
Micah and Rhodes agreed so fast, they had their bag packed before we finished our speech.
I smiled up at the ceiling, content in a way I’d never been in this house before. When I sat beside that totaled car, wishing Sarang Kim had died instead, I had given up on myself in every way. I truly believed there was nothing else for me. Nothing left to fight for.
I thought I was dragging myself away from that accident to hide in my nightmares until hate and revenge helped me eke out a new path.
How wrong I was.
So much more was waiting for me here. Everything was waiting for me here.
Love, understanding, and hope. The trust and innocence of a sweet, perfect child looking at me to guide her. A second chance, all too brief, to laugh and make good memories with my mother. Sharing laughs on the couch with the sister I had all along.
Everything I thought I lost in this house, I got back again, and now I could walk away with no regrets.
There was finally something to look forward to.
Splash.
A noise sounded outside my door. Checking the clock, I saw it was pushing two in the morning.
I gave it a few minutes before getting up, putting on my slippers, and padding out the door. The gasoline fumes punched me in the nose—scrunching my face and making me cover half of it with the sleeve of my robe.
Still, I didn’t slow—following the splashes through the darkened hallway and silently down the stairs.
I truly was a specter following them unseen through the gloom as they made their way to the kitchen. Stepping inside right behind them, I threw on the light—beaming at the round-eyed, pale face that whirled around on me, snapping the gas container behind her back like I couldn’t see and smell the evidence.