Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“I do need to be afraid,” she replied. “There’s so much on the line for me right now. Not to mention my best friend isn’t talking to me because I’m here.”
“What?”
Riley grabbed her phone, unlocked the screen and scrolled through her messages. She tapped on one, then cleared her throat. “This is from Veronica. Hi, I’m sorry, Riley, but I can’t handle you being there with him. He’s bad news, and I care about what happens to you. I wish you got that, because if you did you wouldn’t be there with him right now. He’s not really my brother. He’s a stranger. And you’re putting yourself and our friendship at risk by being there. This is a deal breaker for me. Please come sleep on my sofa like I asked you to.”
Apparently, my sister was just as crazy as I was, maybe crazier. “You’re not leaving,” I said evenly. “You’re comfortable here, and you need a good place to live while you organize your finances and sort out the studio.”
If only she’d sell to me. Then I’d have her and the property, I’d even step away from strip clubs as Bane had suggested, open a restaurant and take her to it. What then? She could live in the lap of luxury here. What the hell is wrong with you? Live here? And what happens when you lose interest? When the conquest becomes boring? You hurt her and she leaves for good.
I pried the phone free from Riley’s fingers and placed it on the coffee table. “Forget about that. Forget about all the bullshit tonight, all right?”
“I can’t. The bank called today—I’m already late on my repayment. They’re threatening me already. They’ll take the studio as collateral if I don’t figure something out and fast because all the accrued penalties will make running the place impossible. I can’t lose it, Jax, I just can’t. Dancing is the only thing that’s gotten me through the worst times in my life. The time my parents kicked me out and when Michael left, when Aunt Jessa died. My money’s only released in two weeks, but I might lose everything before then because of—”
I held up my palm. We’d already been over the solution, but she refused to take it. All I could do now was give her some comfort. “Stop,” I said. “Worrying about this shit isn’t going to turn it into chocolate cake. Get it?”
She gave a wan smile. “I’m just so goddamn tired of trying. Tired of everything. Do you get that?”
I got up and ran my fingers through her glossy hair, then down her back. “I’ll be right back,” I said.
She frowned, her lips parting, but didn’t reply. She wanted me to stay, of course, and that was part of what was fucking with her mind. Two weeks of each other and she wanted me around her all the time, even though we were meant to be nothing more than casual friends, roommates.
I walked out of the living room and down the hall, the empty walls flashing past. I didn’t decorate my place with pictures. I had no happy memories with family, only some with Bane, and those weren’t images that anyone needed to see.
Ten minutes later I returned to the living room and lifted Riley from the sofa and into my arms. She rested her head against my chest, still awake, but her eyes staring off into the distance, seeing whatever bleak future she’d pictured for herself.
Anger pulsed through me, but I kept my grip loose, for now. That ex of hers had done this. He’d wrecked her by promising her the world then pulling it out from under her feet. If I had the chance, I’d find him and make him pay in flesh and fucking blood for what he’d done to her.
I walked Riley into the bathroom and set her feet down on the tiles beside the tub, brimming with foam and steaming hot water.
She blinked at me. “What are you—?”
“Quiet.” I stripped the blanket from her shoulders. She wore a pair of cotton pj shorts and that matching T-shirt. Her skin prickled from the change in temperature. I dragged her shirt off, then her shorts, took her hand, and helped her into the sudsy water. “Sit,” I said.
She did as she was told and sank beneath the bubbles. “Oh god, that’s good.”
I grinned and stripped off my clothes too, then got in behind her.
She lay back against my chest and sighed, crossed her arms over her breasts, and turned her head to one side, eyes closed.
Steam rose from our bodies and swirled toward the ceiling. The light was off, but I’d left my bedroom light on and the door open a crack. It was peaceful in the gloom, just our skin touching, her tiny frame dwarfed by mine.