Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 144435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Marnie wasn’t so lucky. She’s in jail on first-degree homicide charges. She confessed everything. She’s working with the FBI to build a case against Marcellus Moretti. It won’t win her any favors. She’s still going to prison for a long time. But at least she’s doing the right thing for once in her life.
Raven is…quiet. Distant. She’s lost in her own mind, and I can’t reach her. It’s fucking killing me. Seeing her taped to that fucking chair…listening to her screaming for me. If I could bring Jack back and kill him again, I would.
She hasn’t been sleeping much. Neither have I. I lie awake at night, just listening to her breathing. Thanking God that she’s still with me. That she still lets me hold her and take care of her. We haven’t talked much about what I did. We haven’t talked much at all. I’ve been trying to give her time to let everything settle in her mind.
We haven’t gone back to the island yet. We’re not staying at Brant’s either. We’re at my old place. I still have it. I’m not giving it up unless they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. Finding real estate in Seattle is a bitch.
“How did today go?” she asks.
I blow out a breath and push away from the door, strolling across the living room toward her. “Come here,” I say, holding out my hand for her. She slips hers into mine, letting me pull her into my arms. She doesn’t melt into me like she used to, but she doesn’t pull away.
I lead her to the couch and sit, pulling her down beside me.
“They’re holding her without bail,” I say.
She exhales a tiny breath of relief, a little of the weight falling from her shoulders. “That’s good,” she whispers. And then a cloud passes across her face. “Rhys?”
“Yeah, songbird?”
“What’s going to happen to the baby?” she asks.
I want to lie to her, but I can’t. “Because Marnie has no family, once she gives birth, the baby will go into the system,” I say quietly. “The state will place him or her with a foster family until an adoptive family can be found.”
“What if they can’t find one?”
“Then he or she will remain a ward of the state.”
Raven flinches.
“If that happens, it’s not on you, princess,” I remind her. “You are a victim in this situation. You didn’t create this situation. You have no responsibility in this situation. Marnie and Jack are the ones responsible here. No one else.”
“I know,” she says. “But…”
“But what?”
“But Marnie and my dad were still married when the baby was conceived. In the eyes of the law, that makes the baby his until DNA says otherwise,” she says. “So technically, I’m the baby’s next of kin.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, watching her carefully.
She’s quiet for a long moment. “I guess I’m saying that the baby doesn’t deserve to suffer,” she finally says. “It’s not the baby’s fault that his or her parents did horrible things.” She bites her lip, looking at me with wide, somber eyes. “I think…I think we should raise the baby, Rhys. It’s what my dad would want.”
I stare at her. Just stare.
“Jesus,” I finally growl, pulling her into my lap to kiss her hard on the mouth. I spear my hand into her hair, angling her head. Her lips part beneath mine on a soft moan. I kiss her long and deep, again and again. Fuck, I missed kissing her.
“What was that for?” she whispers when I finally break away.
“For being you,” I say, tucking her hair behind her ear and pulling her up against my chest. “For having a heart as pure as yours. For loving like you do.”
“Oh.” She cuddles up against me with a sweet sigh. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been right here, princess.”
“I know. I just…”
“Had to decide if I was worth it?”
“What?” She scrambles up, turning those big blue eyes on me. “Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”
“I wouldn’t blame you if it was, Raven. What I did…” I trail off, shaking my head. “I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me for it.”
“I could never hate you,” she whispers vehemently. “I was hurt, and I was angry. It felt like my soul was being ripped out of my body, but I never hated you, Rhys.”
“I’m sorry, songbird. I’m so fucking sorry for hurting you.”
“Promise me that you’ll never keep something like that from me again,” she demands. “I can’t go through that again, Rhys. It hurt so damn bad.” Tears well in her eyes, residual pain darkening them. “I couldn’t breathe.”
I groan, pulling her close. “Never again,” I vow. “Never again. I was going to tell you everything, but I was a fucking coward. I kept putting it off, terrified you’d hate me once you knew. You should know the only reason I did what I did was to protect you and Brant and the baby,” I murmur. “I know that doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t earn me forgiveness or make me deserving of it. I know that. But when she came to me threatening to tell the world that he was laundering money through the company, the FBI would seize every single one of his assets. You’d lose everything. Including the image of the man you idolized. I couldn’t let that happen.”