Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Then nearly leapt out of my skin.
Because I wasn’t alone.
Oh, no.
Raff was sitting on the desk chair, legs out, ankles crossed, fingers laced and placed on his stomach, looking perfectly at ease. And like he’d been there for a good, long while.
I should have known.
God, I should have.
Raff was nothing if not relentless.
Especially when it came to me.
There was no way he was going to let it drop that he’d obviously seen me… and I’d been lying about it not being me.
Damn him.
He could ruin everything for me.
His head tipped to the side as he looked at me.
“So, you gorgeous thing, you,” he said, shooting me that panty-melting smile of his. “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on now?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Lula
Shit.
How the hell was I going to handle this?
Continue to lie? Let them keep compiling?
To what end?
And, God, wouldn’t it feel good for someone to know? Someone to understand? To empathize? To maybe offer some advice?
“Lula,” Raff said, his voice velvet-soft. So soft that I felt immediate tears flood my eyes. “Hey,” he said, getting to his feet and crossing the room in two strides. “Whatever it is, it’s not worth your tears,” he assured me, even as his hands framed my face and his thumbs wiped the first ones away.
Unfortunately for me, the worst thing someone could do when I was already feeling fragile was be nice to me.
The floodgates opened.
And I started to pour over.
Raff made a sad sound, then reached to pull me against him.
It just felt so good to be held.
I wasn’t sure the last time I felt someone’s arms around me. Let alone a man’s.
What can I say? I was a bit of a hard woman at times. Especially around men. I rarely found ones I felt safe enough to be soft with.
Maybe it was because I was just so overwhelmed. Or maybe it was because some part of me innately knew that Raff could be trusted. But I was putty with him right then.
Weeks of uncertainty, betrayal, shock, sadness, fear, and anger spilled out onto his shirt, soaking it through, as he held me close, his hand gently sliding up and down my spine.
Only when I was dried out and sniffling did he let me pull away to turn and walk into the bathroom.
I closed the door to pull myself together: blowing my nose, wiping off my ruined makeup.
There was no going back now.
I sucked in a deep breath and moved back into the room.
Raff was back on the desk chair.
I made my way to the end of the bed and sat down, exhaling hard.
“Okay. Let’s have it.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because everything about you interests me,” he said, making my belly do a strange little tightening thing. “Last time I checked in, you were living in a penthouse, doing Pilates, spending your weekends getting pampered, basically living your best life.”
“I was,” I agreed.
Raff watched me for a minute, something close to understanding in his eyes. “So, what’s his name?”
“Drake Holland. But it wasn’t like that.”
Well, it mostly wasn’t like that.
“It doesn’t matter if it was,” Raff assured me. “Wouldn’t think any different about you.”
He probably wouldn’t.
I couldn’t claim to know Raff very well. All our interactions had been surface-level. But everything I did know about him suggested he was not a judgmental kind of person.
“Come on. Let me shoulder some of it before it brings you to your knees.”
“I make a nice living with the Murphy brothers.”
“I figured. Those are nice shoes,” he said, glancing down at my feet.
He was making this a lot easier than I’d anticipated.
“Each year, right after tax time, I get a bonus.”
“Very structured for a criminal organization.”
“I decided a few years back to start socking away that bonus each year.”
“Boss bitch shit. I’m familiar. And by ‘familiar,’ I mean in an abstract kind of way. My money loves leaving me behind.”
“And my grandfather used to tell me that very little in life gives you as much power as a deed. So I decided to buy something with it once I had enough.”
“A house?”
“Land. Before all these developers came sniffing, land was available for a song around here. No one wanted to build this close to a prison. I got twenty acres for… less than it would cost to buy a house.”
“Look at you making mogul moves. Are you planning to build a house there?”
“I was.”
I had it all picked out: the floor plan, the counters, floors, types of windows, cabinets, furniture, curtains. I had it planned down to the dang soap dishes and sponges.
“What got in the way?”
“Drake got in the way.”
It had just been a normal day. I’d been leaving a Pilates class and was considering driving out of town to hit up my favorite sushi place to bring home for dinner. Maybe indulge in a little ridiculous reality television. Shop for bath blankets.