Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Fuck, this was about to hit Adelaide hard.
“We’ll be there within a day,” I informed him. I knew that Adelaide would want to go see him, and I wouldn’t keep her from doing that. I knew Adelaide well enough to know that she would pack a bag for her and Axel and hit the road to go see him herself if I even tried denying her.
I hung up the phone and set it on the nightstand, pushing my hands through my hair. I didn’t want to tell her this. I really fucking didn’t. I knew that even though she was here with me, she still harbored some feelings for Tristan, and I couldn’t fault her for that. They had a history that happened long before I ever came into the picture.
But this shit was about to rip her the fuck apart, and I was so goddamn tired of her hurting all of the time. I just wanted her to finally be happy for once.
I stood up and quietly slipped out of the room, going down the hall to knock on the door of the room that Joey was occupying. I hated to cut his time with her short, but I needed to take her to see Tristan. But first, I needed Joey’s help breaking this news to her. She would need both of us when she found out. This shit was about to break her.
“What?” Joey grunted as he opened the door, pulling a shirt over his head. He scrubbed his hands down his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Tristan’s been shot,” I told him. Joey dropped his hands from his face, looking much more awake now. “Jesup just called me. Told me he may be burying Tristan. Doctor says it isn’t looking good for him.”
“Fuck—Adelaide,” Joey whispered, his mind instantly going in the same direction mine had gone.
I clenched my jaw, nodding. “This shit’s going to hurt her, Joey, but she’s going to hate me if I don’t tell her. I thought you could help me keep her calm as I break the news to her.”
He nodded. “Let me get my boots on and grab my cut,” he told me as he opened the door wider, moving toward the bed in the center of the room. He shoved his feet into his boots and snatched up his cut, shrugging it onto his shoulders. Sighing, he took a moment to stare up at the ceiling. “Not going to be sad to see Tristan go, if I’m honest,” Joey told me bluntly. I grunted in agreement, but I knew losing Tristan would make Adelaide lose a piece of herself. Neither of us wanted that for her.
“He keeps hurting her, River. Every time I fucking see him, I want to break his neck. He refuses to change for her.” He rolled his shoulders, almost as if he were trying to roll his feelings about Tristan off of him. Then, he turned toward me. “Let’s go.”
Time to go rip my woman the fuck apart.
Joey eased onto the bed beside Adelaide, pain flashing through his eyes for a moment before he smothered it, only showing her the love and happiness that he held for her.
I gently shook Adelaide awake as I sat on the other side of her, and she blinked up at me slowly, a slow smile curving her luscious lips. “Hi,” she breathed.
I gently ran my fingertips over her cheek, and her expression instantly fell as she sat up, immediately picking up on my mood. She looked at Joey, who was sitting on her other side, and her breathing quickened, panic flashing in her eyes. Joey cupped the side of her neck, locking her eyes on his. “Easy, pretty girl,” he soothed. “Breathe.”
She looked over at me, swallowing thickly. “River, what’s going on?” she asked me, her voice trembling.
Fuck, I didn’t want to do this to her. I really fucking didn’t. “Darlin’, Jesup just called me… Tristan has been shot, and his odds of surviving aren’t looking that great,” I gently told her.
Her expression was blank for a moment as she processed my words. Then, her expression quickly fell, tears filling her eyes as her bottom lip trembled. I instantly pulled her onto my lap and cradled her to me as she burst into tears, her pain-filled wail filling my room.
And my beautiful Adelaide fell apart in my arms.
Joey grabbed her hands in his, bringing her tear-filled eyes to his. “Tristan is not leaving you, pretty girl,” he soothed. She sobbed, shaking her head. “He’s strong as fuck, and he’s stubborn as hell. This isn’t going to take him out. Breathe,” he coaxed.
“Darlin’,” I called as I gripped her chin, drawing her broken expression up to mine, “live for me,” I begged her. My heart squeezed in my chest as her face scrunched up in pain. “Just live. It’s going to be okay.”