Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“Get. Out,” she seethes.
“With pleasure.”
Knight’s hand tightens in mine, and we make our way out of the living room, cutting straight past Mom, but she reaches up and catches me by my arm, yanking me back. “Not you,” she spits. “I am not nearly through with you.”
I cry out as her sharp nails dig into my skin, and in a flash, Knight is there, bearing down on my mother. “Take your hand off my woman before you find out just how fucking fast I can destroy you,” he growls, his chest heaving in a way I’ve never seen before. He’s teetering on the edge of losing control. “You don’t want to find out what will happen if I have to repeat myself.”
Mom seethes at Knight, but as he continues to bear down on her, she seems to shrink right where she stands, her eyes widening as they begin to flicker with fear. Then, as if on cue, Mom releases her death grip on my arm, and I pull away, knowing that no matter what comes from this point on, our relationship will never have the opportunity to mend. There is no going back from this.
“We’re leaving,” I tell my mother, letting her hear the finality in my tone. “You and I are done. I’m finished with your narcissistic bullshit and abuse. Find someone else to play your dirty little games.”
I fix her with a hard stare, and then just as I go to leave, I lift my deadly gaze to Elias’s, sending a silent message that he will suffer the same fate if he were to even think about putting his hands on me again. I will destroy him just as thoroughly as Knight would destroy my mother. Hell, they truly are the perfect couple. They were made for each other. But with Mom’s ridiculous act and Elias’s need to play the charming billionaire husband, I doubt they even know it.
“Come on,” Knight says, dropping his hand to my lower back. He leads me out of the living room, leaving the couple from hell behind as anger swells in my chest.
“Wait,” I tell him, stopping by Elias’s liquor cabinet and grabbing expensive bottles, loading up my arms. Fuck knows there’s only one way I’m working through this anger tonight, and something tells me that I’ll find my peace in fragments at the bottom of every one of these bottles. Hopefully it doesn’t take that long because I really don’t feel like having my stomach pumped tonight.
Looking up at Knight, I hold one of the bottles by the neck, pop the cork, and lift it right to my lips for a quick swig. “Now we can go.”
18
HARPER-RAYN
Knight drives like he has nine lives, just as worked up as I am. He pushes his truck to the limits, soaring through the streets and taking turns that my car could never. I mean, shit, my car is barely running on hopes and dreams while Knight’s truck is a fucking beast in the street.
He soars through town as I swig from a six-hundred-dollar bottle of whiskey, barely even noticing that he’s going the wrong way. “Can you believe the nerve of that bitch?” I demand, watching the world pass me by. “She really thought I was just going to fall in line. As if I’m not twenty-fucking-eight years old and capable of making my own decisions. Like fuck. The audacity.”
I scoff, not even sure if Knight is listening to me anymore. He’s caught up in his own thoughts, his hands white-knuckling the steering wheel as I rant and rave.
“Not to mention, she was going to hit you. Who the hell does that bitch think she is? Hitting my boyfriend? My boyfriend? Get fucked. At least my boyfriend isn’t a piece-of-shit rapist who preys on young women. Like shit. Sort out your own failings before trying to accuse me of having any. My boyfriend is great.”
I let out a loud huff, taking another swig. “I’m never going back there,” I tell Knight, certain that he’s definitely not listening anymore, yet I don’t seem to care. The words just keep coming out like word vomit. “I’d rather take a stroll through hell than go back there. In fact, I’m blocking her number just like I should have done years ago.”
Scrambling through my bag, I find my phone and immediately block Mom’s number, grinning as a wave of pride fills my chest. “There,” I say, putting my phone down in the center console. “She’s officially blocked. I never have to deal with her again. She’s Jonah’s problem now.”
I cross my arms over my chest and huff again, having run out of things to say, and yet I’m still so worked up that I’m desperate to keep going.
“What was all that shit about needing to leave?” Knight asks me a moment later, not skipping a beat. “When you first came into the living room. You looked like you’d seen a ghost. What got you so freaked out?”