Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
“Thorin, come on. Do you realize how crazy that sounds? Aurelia is many things, but she isn’t manipulative. Don’t do this shit. Not now. Don’t let your paranoia ruin a good thing. A fucking great thing. Aurelia isn’t your mom. She’s not going to break her word.”
“Right.”
“Wrong.” Seth pushes away from the railing and shoves Thorin back. The surprised look Thorin gives him is almost comical. “Sunshine told me she loves me. She wouldn’t have said it if she didn’t mean it.” Thorin just stares back at him. “And she loves you too, Thor. She hasn’t said it yet, but she feels it. You just have to stop being so…” Seth searches for a kinder word than what he’s probably thinking and settles on. “You.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“Enough of this shit. Go see her, Thor.”
“What?”
“You’re spiraling. Go see her right now. Touch her. Hold her. And then look into her eyes and tell yourself that she isn’t yours. That she isn’t mine. And that she isn’t Seth’s. I fucking dare you.” When the stubborn ass doesn’t move from the spot where he’s standing, I shake my head. If Thorin can’t get past that voice in his head that says Aurelia can’t be trusted—that she is his past come back to haunt him, we’re doomed. “Fine. If you can’t do that, do yourself a favor and get the hell out of my sight before I fuck you up.”
SETH | EKEZ
“The promise that it ends is what makes life beautiful.”
I’m careful not to react as I sweep up the glass, wood chips, and other debris on the floor of Zeke’s bedroom. Well, I guess it’s Aurelia’s now since she laid claim to it and suckered us into clearing it out to make room for her.
“You wrote this, didn’t you?”
I can feel her eyes on me as I continue sweeping. “What makes you say that?”
“Fine, Cura. Keep your secrets. Will you at least tell me what happened in here?”
Thorin is in and out of the room, hauling the ruined furniture out, but every time he returns, he lingers, waiting for Aurelia to acknowledge him before tucking his tail and leaving when she ignores him.
It’s been a few days since Sheriff Kelly and the death squad came knocking, and Sunshine’s been giving him the cold shoulder ever since. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve it. He does. But it’s better for everyone when Aurelia is happy with all of us.
Khalil is busy outside building a bed for our girl—one that’s bigger and fancier than his, per her demand.
“Which time?” I muse as I finish sweeping and cringe when I look around. Fortunately, I don’t have to imagine what Aurelia must have thought when she saw it.
“It looks like someone let a wild animal loose in here,” she mutters.
I crack a strained smile as I dump the full dustpan into the trash. “That would be Bane. And a little of me.”
“Why would he do this?”
“Because the only way to stop Bane is to kill him. Since Khalil and Thorin can’t do that without killing Zeke, too, they either tranq him or trap him until Zeke or I wake up.”
“How long does that take?”
“A few hours. A few minutes. It depends. The moment Bane no longer feels like Zeke is in danger, he splits, and one of us takes over.”
Aurelia pauses scrubbing the blood from the walls to look at me. “So if Bane only comes when Zeke is in danger, why didn’t he stop Isaac from torturing him and hurting you?”
I shake my head to free myself from the clutches of the dark memories that try to take hold. “Because Bane wasn’t born until after Khalil and Thorin came for Ezekiel.” Sucking in a breath while an internal war rages on, I force myself to meet Aurelia’s gaze while I deliver the blow that might cause her to never look at me the same again. “He killed Tatum.”
“What?” Aurelia drops the sponge into the bucket, causing soapy water to splash onto the floor. It goes unnoticed as she walks over to me, her wet fingers curling into the bottom of my T-shirt. I can tell Bane freaks her out already and she hasn’t even met him yet. “Why would he do that?”
Not wanting to relive the events of that day, I give her as much of the truth as I can part with. The rest is Zeke’s to tell anyway. “Because there is no reasoning with him, Aurelia. If Bane wakes up, he’ll kill on sight. He won’t ask questions, and he won’t care who you are.” Reaching out, I stroke her soft cheek with my thumb. “He won’t care what you mean to me.”
Aurelia searches my gaze before she grabs my hand from her cheek and rests it over her chest where her heart beats. “You won’t let him hurt me,” she says with a finality that fills me with a deep sense of male gratification knowing that my girl trusts me to protect her.