Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 58(@200wpm)___ 46(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 58(@200wpm)___ 46(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
I open my eyes again to see my father standing in front of me. A flashlight in his hand, but he’s no longer pointing it directly in my eyes.
“Ah,” he tsks, with an empty smile. “You’re awake, Son.”
My fist clenches, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing me angry or desperate. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my line of work, it’s that showing my enemies any kind of emotions is a weakness. They want me to be scared.
Or angry.
It’s a curious anticipation filled with adrenaline. For both myself and the enemies.
And when they get none of that, it confuses them.
My lack of response causes a brief debilitation in their mind and composure.
I lift my head, catching and holding Harrison’s gaze. His hair is greasy, and he looks skinnier than I remember. He’s got a beard now and he’s almost unrecognizable. Except for those eyes.
They are Naomi’s blue eyes.
And I’ll recognize them anywhere.
Harrison holds my gaze for a second then he slowly smirks. “They’ve trained you well, I see.” He pauses, before chuckling darkly. “But you’re merely a fledgling in this line of work, Son. You still have a lot to learn.”
He peeks over my shoulder and I see the moment his eyes focus on Riley. His smirk widens, and his expression goes from bored amusement to wretched fascination. “Hello there, pet.”
I feel Riley’s nails digging into my back, and she makes another fearful sound in the back of her throat.
He tsks again. “Now, now. Don’t be scared.”
“What do you want, Harrison?” My voice is deceptively calm. I want to wring his fucking neck, but I stay completely still.
Because I see the gun in his other hand.
And I know if I make one wrong move, he won’t hesitate for a second before he unloads the whole magazine in our heads.
He slowly cocks his head to the side. “I want a lot of things. Been waiting for you to wake up.”
Harrison places the flashlight on the floor and then beckons at Riley. “Come here, pet.”
“No,” I deadpan.
He bursts out in an almost maniacal laughter. “Oh, you think you have a choice? You think you have any sort of authority in this situation, Grayson?”
My stomach hollows with nausea. “Harrison, this is between the two of us. You and me. Leave Riley out of this.”
“You’re right about one thing.” He nods thoughtfully. “This is between you and me. Your little girlfriend is here for my own personal enjoyment.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I tell him.
Harrison pauses, his grin slipping off his face for a mere second. “You think I’m falling for that?”
“Use that tiny brain of yours, Harrison,” I drawl tonelessly. “I haven’t seen Riley in years.”
“You’re saying you don’t love her?”
My lungs contract with such a force that I’m afraid they will fold in on themselves. Harrison is smart and cunning, so I know it’ll be hard to deceive him.
But I’ve been laying down the groundwork for years now. I’ve created a separate image of myself in Harrison’s eyes.
Grayson Hale—The heartless womanizer.
The man who uses women like it’s his favorite hobby and then drops them like trash. I needed to fit in with Harrison Avery, so I had to be what he was.
If there was one thing I hated the most about my job…it was exactly that.
Playing the part of an evil man.
“No, I don’t love her,” I confess nonchalantly, sounding bored and uninterested. “C’mon, Harrison. I’ve been with more girls than I can count over the last few years. You know it. We’ve both been frequent visitors at Club 95. So, you got the wrong girl here.”
Riley’s breath hitches.
A gurgled laughter erupts from Harrison’s throat. “Oh, yes. I remember blondie from the last time we were there. She sucked your dick good, boy. Too bad I had to snap her neck while I was inside her. She was making too many ugly noises.” His eyes darken with an evil gleam. “In fact, blondie reminds me a lot of someone.”
He leers at Riley. “And you, pet. You don’t love him?”
I can hear her swallowing. “No,” she says, her voice quaking with panic. She’s playing along. Good girl.
“You don’t love him; Grayson doesn’t love you. Perfect, he’s not going to mind when we have a little fun together. Me and you, pet. Come to me.”
Goddamn it.
His focus is pinned on Riley and when she doesn’t move, the sound of his gun cocking into place fills the silence between us. He points the barrel at my head. “Don’t make me ask again. I will blow his brains out and have his blood splatter all over your face. Come here.”
The distance between Harrison and me is too wide. If I move, I won’t have enough time to reach for his gun and I have no weapons on me. Fuck.
We’re trapped.
And I can’t…
I can’t risk making the wrong move.