Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“The brands don’t bother it. Your smugness, however, pisses it off.”
He smiled. “Can I help it if I like it?”
“Don’t you realize I can’t ever again go to a spa for a Brazilian? It’s not funny.”
After they’d taken a shower during which Knox had fucked her hard against the tiled wall with her luscious legs locked around him, they sat down for the evening meal. Once they’d finished, Knox leaned back in his seat. Truth time. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”
Harper froze with her glass halfway to her mouth. “What’s that?”
Bracing himself for her anger, he said, “There’s a possibility that Kendra is your half-sister.”
She blinked. “Oh. Yeah, I already knew that.”
And for what was probably the millionth time, his anchor had managed to surprise him. “You knew?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure. She doesn’t look anything at all like a Wallis.” Harper sipped at her wine. “If you think I’m the only kid Lucian’s fathered and abandoned, you’re wrong. There are plenty of ‘possible’ offspring of Lucian Wallis. If Carla hadn’t handed me over to Jolene who then forced him to play a part in my life, he wouldn’t have.”
Knox was looking forward to the day he finally met Lucian; he fully intended to give the selfish prick a well-deserved lecture.
“I don’t know the names of the others he could have fathered,” continued Harper, putting down her glass. “But I knew about Kendra. I heard my family talk about how although Lucian left Carla while she was pregnant for another she-demon, they had no sympathy for her – they said she’d gotten a taste of her own medicine after luring him away from Beatrice, who’d been pregnant with Kendra.”
“So…from minute one of meeting Kendra, you knew she could be your half-sister?”
“No, I didn’t make the connection.” Harper crossed her legs beneath the table. “To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about her much over the years. It was Jolene who figured it out. When I called to tell her that you and I had formed the anchor bond, I mentioned my little encounter with Kendra in the restrooms. She asked me to describe her. When I did, Jolene told me it was possible her mother was Beatrice.”
“You never said anything.”
“Neither did you.”
Fair point. “I thought you would find it strange to be—”
“Yeah, I get it. For a few minutes, I did find it a little weird knowing I’d slept with a guy who had also fucked someone who could be my half-sister. But then I thought, ‘So, what? It doesn’t change anything.’ And if she and I are related, it’s not like we’re sisters in an emotional sense. We don’t know each other, and believe me when I say that Kendra hates me. I could see it in her eyes.”
“If she is your half-sister – and I think it’s probable that she is – her jealousy of you probably runs very, very deep. Lucian publically acknowledges that you’re his daughter, he did his own poor version of raising you, and even now he remains in contact with you. Kendra, however, has had none of that.”
Harper sighed, feeling bad for her. “It’s no wonder she’s pissed.”
“Don’t feel sorry for her. Being upset about her situation with Lucian doesn’t excuse her taking it out on you. It’s understandable if she wants his recognition and attention, but in that case it should be him that she expresses her anger on. Not you.”
“I guess her distaste for imps is more about her distaste for Lucian. But despite hating him, she’s jealous of me. I don’t understand that.”
“Why?”
“Carla has two sons. I’m not jealous that they had her and I didn’t.”
Knox leaned forward. “Because you and Kendra are totally different creatures. You’re not capable of bitterness.” Harper wasn’t what anyone would term pleasant or cheerful, and she could often be rude and aggressive. But he’d come to realize that beneath all that was a kind, loyal, accepting person who loved from the soul.
“You suspect she might be behind the attack earlier,” Harper deduced.
Knox shrugged. “It’s a possibility that I’m not willing to rule out. Look at the facts: she’s jealous of you and she resents you, which is enough. Add in that she’s probably embarrassed by how you reduced her to a puddle of misery in the restrooms, and she certainly has plenty of motive to hurt you.”
“Any other suspects?”
Her expression told Knox she had a good idea of who else he suspected. “Levi and I talked about it earlier. We came up with three possible suspects: Kendra, Isla, and Carla.” Shadows entered her unusual eyes that were currently a soft plum in color. “I’m sorry, baby, I know it has to hurt to know your own mother might wish you harm. I’m not convinced it is her, but I won’t take chances with your life. That means keeping an open mind. I agree with Levi that the person who hired the practitioners is the same person who sent Silas to test me.”