Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
“So that’s why you suddenly wanted to become involved with her too,” I say through gritted teeth, feeling betrayed.
“No, it’s not like that,” he replies, his voice weak from my strong grip. “I already liked what I saw. I just saw an opportunity as well.”
“An opportunity?” Lana snorts behind me. “That’s all I am?”
“No. It’s become far more than that, and you know that,” Nathan gurgles.
“She was mine to begin with. I only allowed you two to join because I enjoyed it. Not so you could go behind my back and try to ruin what we had by threatening her with the videos and photos we had by using them to extort her!”
Lana stays put even though I’m not keeping her from running. But something tells me this exchange is the exact reason she’s staying.
“It’s not like that,” Nathan hisses.
“Then tell me why!”
“You know why!” he grits back.
My eyes widen, and my face contorts because he’s right; I do know the reason. I’m just pissed off he’d stoop that low just for …
I release him from my grip, and he drops to the ground, coughing and heaving up spit.
“You know how much I’m willing to sacrifice,” Nathan mutters.
“Even your fucking soul?” I reply.
It doesn’t even take him a second to answer, “Yes.”
I sigh out loud, and for a moment, it’s quiet, so I stare up at the stars above. God, all of this has turned into a giant mess.
I turn to look at Lana, who takes a step back just from my eyes alone.
Or maybe it’s the gun still in my hand.
“How much did you hear?”
“Everything.”
“Tell me.”
“Nathan’s parents owed some bad fuckers money,” she says. “And you paid them off, hoping they won’t come back for more.”
I swallow.
Her nostrils flare. “Is that why you guys have been fucking with me? For money?”
“No. Never,” I answer, throwing a glare at Nathan. “As for him …”
“I did what I had to. That money I asked you for was the last of what I needed to pay them off.”
“Then how come you still had enough?” she asks.
“I gave it to him,” I respond, breathing out another sigh.
“Oh right … because that’s all he needed. A reward,” she hisses, looking anywhere but at me.
Nathan approaches her. “You don’t know what’s at stake here.”
I’ll allow him to have his moment with her.
“Your life,” she retorts as he barges right up to her. “Yeah, I got that part.”
“No. Not mine,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Is that why you kept fucking with me?” Her nostrils flare. “Just for the money so you could bail out your mommy and daddy?”
He grabs her face. “I fucked with you because I enjoyed it, because I like seeing your naked body writhe, because I love to see that lusty face as I bust all over it.” He pauses. “The pictures I took of you are just a bonus, the icing on the fucked-up cake.”
I push up between them. “Okay, enough.”
“No. I want to know why you needed to destroy me,” she says, glaring at Nathan and me. “You owe it to me.”
I grab her arms and make her look at me. “You went through all that trouble, hiding in the back of the car, just to find out the truth?”
She nods.
I take a deep breath.
“Well, now you know,” Nathan says. “I don’t regret anything I did. Not for a single second.”
“Let’s go,” I say, and I grab his arm before we start another fight in the middle of the night on an abandoned road. I walk back to the car, and Nathan jumps behind the wheel.
Suddenly, I hear the back seat door open and in crawls Lana. We both look at her, questioning whatever it is she’s doing.
“I’m coming with you.”
Nathan snorts. “You’ve got to be kiddi—”
“If she wants to come, let her.” I interject.
His nostrils flare, but he doesn’t protest and looks out the window instead.
“What did you want to do? Leave me out there by myself so those fuckers you just traded hands with find me?” she asks, raising a brow.
She’s got a point there.
I do not want anyone’s grabby hands on her … except mine.
“You sure about this?” Nathan asks.
“Go,” I tell him.
So he starts the car and races off.
Lana
I can almost taste the tension between us, the air crackling with the heat of unspoken desires and rage. None of us is willing to speak on the matter, so it just gets churned up a notch.
Nathan’s putting all his anger into hitting the gas, and we swerve across the streets to get back to Spine Ridge U. When we drive onto campus, they head straight back to the Phantom Society. The sight of the melancholic building makes me swallow because of all the history I have here, but I’m too far into this to back out now.
Milo’s waiting outside for the boys to park the car. “How did it go?” he asks casually, leaning over Nathan’s door as he opens it. “Were they satisfied?”