Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
“Eve—”
“I’m ready to go,” I interrupt him, knowing what he’s thinking and not in the mood to discuss it. I want a bottle to drown myself in.
KASHTON
We enter Carnage and see Jessie there to greet us. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I would like a bottle of whiskey,” Eve answers.
Jessie looks at me for permission, and I give a soft nod, not wanting her to see. She’s irritated with herself right now, and I’m enabling her.
“Of course. I can bring it to your room—”
“No need. I’ll come with you,” she interrupts him.
I place my hands in my pockets and watch my wife walk away with Jessie to grab some liquor. Maybe I’m allowing it for my own selfish reasons. I want her to open up to me, and the only way she’s going to do that is with alcohol.
Eve drinks often, so she’s got a pretty good tolerance, but a bottle? She’s got to have a point where she’ll answer questions that I have. Show her vulnerable side. I’m going to test her just to see how many drinks that will take.
I make my way down to the basement to find Haidyn. “Where is everyone?” I ask.
“Saint went to bed and Hooke went out.”
“To Blackout?”
He shrugs. “Not sure. He didn’t offer and I didn’t ask.”
“Anything new on Hailey?”
Haidyn takes a hit from his cigarette. “Nope.”
“What about the woman? What did Devin do with the body?”
He just stares at me before he takes another hit. I step closer to him, narrowing my eyes. “What did you do, Haidyn?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He gives me his back.
I reach out and grab his arm, and he spins back around to face me. “Tell me,” I grind out. “Saint called and told me she died. He made it sound like she succumbed to her injuries. Is that what happened?”
“Yeah. That’s what happened.”
We’ve been at Carnage for an hour when I walk through the bedroom to find her in the bathroom, submerged in the tub, bubbles chin high, and a bottle of whiskey three-quarters gone.
I sit on the edge, and she glances up at me before looking down at the bubbles. She avoided the conversation I wanted to have with her at Bill and Janice’s. In all honesty, that wasn’t the place to have it. But now she’s naked and has nowhere to go. “I’m sorry,” I tell her.
Her pretty green eyes find mine and she frowns. “For what?”
“For tonight. I…I wasn’t thinking.” Elli had to use the restroom and asked me to hold Brexton. I didn’t think about it until I saw Eve on the stairs. Sin’s hands were full with their daughter, and Janice wasn’t around.
My wife reaches over, grabs the bottle, and starts to gulp what’s left of it down.
I yank it from her hand, and her eyes narrow on mine. She sits up, her chest now out of the water and bubbles. “I’m not heartless, Kashton. I’m not going to keep you from your friends’ children.” Then her eyes go to the bottle.
I move it out of her reach before speaking. “I never said you were.” I frown at her harsh tone. “I just—”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she interrupts me, just like earlier.
“I think we should.”
“No.” She stands and the water sloshes around.
Getting out, she grabs a towel, but I wrap my fingers around her upper arm, pulling her to a stop. Water and bubbles run down her body to pool at her feet. “We’ll figure something out.”
She yanks her arm from my hold and stumbles back before righting herself. She’s had more to drink than I thought. “What the fuck does that mean? Figure what out?”
“Adoption.” I step into her, not wanting her to fall and hurt herself. This floor is slippery when wet. “We’ll have kids, Eve.” I saw the look on her face, and I know how much regret she has. Bringing a kid into the Lords is doable. Plus, they won’t be blood related, so the Lords won’t force them to be initiated. “We’ll give them the childhood that we wish we had.”
“No.” Eve shakes her head. “We’re not adopting. You want kids, have them with someone else.”
I know what she’s doing. She wants to start a fight. Wants to push me away. It’s her way of coping with the choices she was forced to make.
“You’re my wife,” I grind out. “I’m not going to be fucking anyone else, let alone have a child with another woman.”
She snorts as if that’s unbelievable. “Give it time.” Turning, she gives me her bubble-covered back and starts to exit the bathroom, but I grab her messy bun and yank her back before spinning her around and pinning her to the door with my hand around her neck. “Kash—”
“Drop the attitude, angel,” I growl.