Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
I haven’t yet told Henry I own every parcel of land, every structure, down to every little waterway the naked eye can see from his balcony at Wainscott Hollow. I disguised myself behind my corporation, although Henry, in his advanced alcoholism, is probably far too gone to notice who he sells what remains of his fortune to. Absolute retribution is what I’d thought this moment would bring. To revel in the shock in his eyes when he heard the poor boy from the Bronx, the so-called hood trash he hates, is now lord and proprietor of all he’s ever held dear. But standing here on the shores of the manor where I spent my happiest days with my wild, untamed girl who liked to catch tadpoles and run free in the dunes, I’m profoundly empty. Maybe because that very girl’s last words to me were how she didn’t want me, that I was worthless, that the powerful bond I believed we shared was meaningless to her.
When I turn to head back to the manor, I spot two figures in the sand. The man hovered over the woman, his movements frantic and consumed with rage. The woman writhes under him as if desperate to be freed. And then I hear it as if carried to me on the wind. The voice that lingers in my mind as if she’s just spoken to me.
I’ve come back to Wainscott Hollow only to walk right into the kind of horror I never wanted to see. I know it’s Kat by the sound of her screams.
My steps are frenzied and hurried, puppeteering my body in her direction on instinct. When I reach them, I pull him off her and toss him to the ground. I’m not the same guy I was ten years ago. My body has filled out in ways most young men dream of.
“Get the fuck off her,” I snarl, crowding over the man.
Then recognition dawns on me. It’s Eddie Lind—the not-so-insufferable friend to Henry Shaw. Despite our familiarity, I pounce on him, my fists connecting to his face in rapid succession until blood begins to soak the sand around his head from my blows. I’m confident I’ve broken his nose again, if nothing else. He can’t even get his bearings to sit up, let alone acknowledge our unexpected reunion. The sight of Kat pains me beyond measure. Seeing her degraded, ravaged, her dress ripped and Eddie’s cum leaking out of her is too much to bear.
Once upon a time, I might have been fine with occasionally sharing Kat with Eddie. I liked him. He wasn’t a part of my soul the way Kat was, but he was a part of my life that I look back upon fondly. But all the years apart from my anger allowed the rage to fester, knowing I didn’t have the required pedigree to be as important to them as they were to me. These two, the perfect match, equal social standing, financial worth, names of status, a logical pairing. Knowing he was here with her while they banished me to hell like a rabid dog fuels the flames of wrath inside me.
The gods have cursed me from the moment I laid eyes on her, and no matter what happens in this world, our souls are bound together. There is no beginning and no end to Katelyn Shaw and I.
“This is what you replaced me with? This man who defiles you on the same shores I showered you with my love?”
Eddie crawls away from me in the sand, cupping his bleeding jaw. “What are you doing here, Heath? Years ago, she told you to pack your bags. She made her choice and chose right. She picked a comfortable life, what she’s always known over the absolute uncertainty and social banishment that would befall her with you. What could you offer her but shame and the life of an outcast?”
My knuckles connect to his face again. “Shut your mouth, Eddie. I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“You can kill me with your fists, but you’ll never undo the fact that she made her choice.”
My shirt is tugged back. Kat screams as she tries to pull me away from him. Eddie’s blood spills on the sand, but it doesn't quiet the rage inside me. I want him dead. Dead for being here with her when I wasn’t. Dead for touching her when I couldn’t. Dead for thinking he could have her. My hands wrap around his throat, and I squeeze.
“Not a choice, Eddie, because no matter what you do, no matter what she says, she’ll always be mine. You’re just a blip. A mistake. A memory I’m about to wipe off the face of this godforsaken planet.”
Kat’s screams do nothing to temper my beast. It’s wrapped around my entire being and erased any sign of the rational man I used to be. “Heath, stop! Heath, you’re going to kill him!”