Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“You want to help?” Julius moved at the speed of light, rushing to the garage door to open it. In one solid breath, he ordered, “You can start by leaving and going to hell.”
She slowly walked over to the threshold, looking back and confessed, “I’ve already been living there.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, grabbing the door. Only glaring at her, I spewed, “We have too.”
She opened her mouth to give us an excuse, so I did what Julius had the day before. I slammed the door in her face as well.
I was aware this wouldn’t stop her from coming back, but I tried anyway.
After she was gone, Julius turned his wrath toward me. Inches away from my face, he sternly pointed at me.
“Now you, you need to stay out of fucking trouble! Do you understand me?”
I pushed his hand away. “Yeah.”
“I’m serious, Kraven. I cannot deal with any more of your bullshit. You’re lucky I’m here right now.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“What do you want me to say, huh? I was defending Isla!”
“Please don’t argue about me,” she ordered, swiftly standing beside us.
“How about you start with ‘I’m sorry, Julius!’ And then a ‘thank you,’ would be fucking fantastic.”
I only half gave in. “Thank you for stepping up, but I won’t apologize for defending her. Justin has had it coming for years, and you know it, Julius.”
“I don’t know shit. Especially when it comes to your arguments.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself. Justin deserved to get his ass kicked, and if it wasn’t me, it was going to be someone else. He’s just a piece of shit who needed to be put in his place.”
“And look what place he’s put you in. Not just you but everyone in this room! Melody is back, and you’re the only one to blame for it.”
I adamantly shook my head. “I didn’t ask for this, Julius. I don’t want her here any more than you do, but you and I both know it was only a matter of time until she pulled this stunt.”
“Guys,” Isla spoke up. “This isn’t helping anyone.”
Julius glared at me one last time and left, making his way out the door and slamming it behind him.
Once he was gone, she turned to me. “Are you okay?” she asked with sympathy in her eyes.
“Just peachy keen.” I shrugged.
“Kraven…”
“Isla.” I fixated on her. With warning in my tone, I spat…
“I’m not fighting with you about another Knightly. My brother is more than enough.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
ISLA
“Melody, I don’t think this is such a good idea,” I warned, walking down the aisle at the store.
“Of course it is!” She grabbed Rice Krispies off the shelf and tossed them into the cart. “Those are his favorites,” she exclaimed, grabbing the edge of it to pull it behind her. “This one time, we made them from scratch in the kitchen, and we forgot about them and almost burned the house down.” She chuckled. “The fire station had to come. Oh, it was great!”
I bet the boys have a much different perspective.
I had no clue what I was doing there with her to begin with, but when she showed up at the house for the hundredth time and the guys weren’t there, I couldn’t turn her down when she begged me to go shopping with her. They’d been completely ignoring her. Julius even got the locks changed to the house in case she made a copy.
Having to admit that I felt bad for her wasn’t something I could discuss with either of them. They refused to broach the subject and immediately shut me down whenever I tried.
Kraven’s birthday was tomorrow. She said she wanted to recreate his last party, including the Jurassic Park theme. We spent all morning Ubering around for supplies, and this was our last stop, but the guilt was eating me alive. I couldn’t shake it. It was too much. However, that didn’t stop me from being there with her to help her find decorations and everything in between.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” I repeated, hanging on by a thread.
“Nonsense!” she excitedly shouted. “It’s going to be the best!”
The cost of everything she bought was adding up with each store we went into. Money didn’t seem to be an issue to her. She spent it faster than a hamster running on a wheel.
“So… Melody, what do you do for a living?”
“Oh, you know… a little of this, a little of that.”
“I see.”
“Oh!” She grabbed chips off the rack. “We finally found them!”
I hated that I was doing this. I felt like I was betraying them—and, in a way, I was. Still, I was drawn to her. Maybe because I’d been living in her house and I’d gone through her things, her memories… Or perhaps it was just from being a woman too, and I could relate to her wanting to make amends and reconnect with her sons.