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)
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I snort. “You’ve been MIA and got married. FUCKING MARRIED!” I scream. “You had Adam there. What about us, huh? What about me?” How could he do something so important without me? I thought we were closer than that.
“I made you her guardian.”
“How was that possible, Haidyn? Hmm? Because I wasn’t fucking there to sign off on that.”
He runs a hand down his face. “I had Adam sign your name.”
I throw my arms out to my sides and then let them fall, slapping my thighs. Of course Adam was there for him. Haidyn’s been hiding him from us for years. “You should have just had Adam sign his.”
“I wanted you.”
“I—” The sound of the door opening cuts him off, and Charlotte steps into the room.
“What the fuck happened?” His wide eyes go to mine when he sees her condition.
I ignore his question. His wife can answer it. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” I tell him and walk over to her. I place my hands on either side of her bruised face. “Give him hell, love,” I tell her and release her. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out his wedding ring and hand it to her, leaving them alone.
If I can’t get through to him, maybe she can.
Saint frowns at my previous statement, and it just pisses me off even more. “You don’t even know why I’m mad at you guys.”
“You guys?” He points at himself. “What did I do?”
Seriously? “You cheated at the vow ceremony.”
Saint throws his head back, laughing like I’ve told a joke. “That was four years ago.”
“That was a big fucking secret!” I shout, getting more and more irritated with him. “It’s literally when everything started going to shit. Had you told us, maybe we could have prepared. Done something different. Fuck, Saint. Maybe your wife wouldn’t have shot you.” His laughter stops. “Perhaps she wouldn’t have ran away and lost her baby. Maybe we wouldn’t have been sentenced to six months of hell. Who knows?”
He opens his mouth, but I continue, “And you…” I look at Haidyn. He widens his stance and crosses his tatted arms over his chest. Ready for a fight. “What the fuck, man? You kept Adam from us for four years?” I don’t care that much that he married Charlotte behind our backs.
He says nothing.
“Now because of Adam, I’ve lost Sin as well,” I ramble.
They both frown and look at one another. “What happened to Easton?” Saint asks.
“After Adam’s funeral, I went to his house and beat the shit out of him in his living room.”
Saint sighs and runs his hand down in his face. “Was Elli there?”
“Of course his wife was there,” I shout. “And then after we had our meeting with Adam on the plane, I went back to apologize, and she pointed a loaded gun at my face.”
“Kash—”
“Don’t bother,” I interrupt Haidyn. “You guys have kept to yourselves for this long, just keep doing that.” With that, I turn and storm through the plastic strip curtains and get on the elevator. Fuck, I need a drink and to see her.
She is the only thing that can make this day better. I’m already relying on her as a crutch. I used to have my brothers, but I’ve lost them one by one. So I’m going to replace them with her.
Eve doesn’t know it yet, but she’s exactly what I need.
NINE
EVERETT
Do you know what it feels like not to get to say goodbye to the one you love?
People die every day in freak accidents or from suicide or natural causes. I know there are a lot of people who don’t get to say goodbye to a loved one. Who aren’t aware when they kiss them goodbye as they leave for work that it might be their last.
I hate that I’ve had to say goodbye to someone I never even got to meet.
I sit cross-legged at the grave. It should have two headstones, but that wasn’t offered. The single headstone represents two people I love. Two deaths due to two different circumstances. Not getting to know them doesn’t make the pain or loss any easier.
Each one put a fresh hole in my heart. The tears did eventually stop, but it changed me. Made me colder.
I look over the unmarked grave. You don’t get to be remembered when you screw the Lords. There are two people who I never got to say goodbye to here. One brought me into this world, and the second, I refused to let end up with the same fate as me.
I learned at a very young age that I would rather swim with the sharks than surround myself with the people who tried to drown me.
I only had myself then, and I only have myself now. That will never change. One day, they’ll get rid of me. No one will show up for my funeral because there won’t even be one. Not like I will have friends to attend it anyway. I want to be cremated and dumped here, but that won’t happen. You don’t get to choose how you die when the Lords decide your time is up.