Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Daphne and Ani have all the power.
My hands tremble as I clench them into fists. I want so desperately to lash out, to give in to my anger, but I’ve never been violent toward a woman. I don’t want to start now.
Slowly, I step forward and speak. “You are a liar,” I seethe, my voice deceptively steady despite the emotions raging inside of me. “I just spoke with Apollo.” I lean towards her, my face towering over hers. “You are a liar. I detest liars.”
Ani doesn’t say anything right away, but she scrutinizes me with a calculating calm. After a few tense moments, she speaks. “This wasn’t just my secret to tell. It involved your brother, my sister.”
“I trusted you.” Saying the words feels as if I am vomiting.
“I’m sorry, Phoenix. Truly. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”
“But you did.”
Ani looks away, her expression a mix of guilt and sorrow. Her silence speaks louder than any words she could say. She’s clearly struggling to come up with a valid excuse for lying to me multiple times. And even if she’s truly sorry, it’s too late. The damage is done.
“Get out of the house now,” I boom, my voice vibrating in my chest. “Now. You have ten minutes to gather your stuff.” I spin and storm out of the room.
She calls out behind me, “Phoenix, wait. Please. I’m sorry.”
I pause in the hallway, feeling a pang of guilt by simply throwing her out of the house in the night with the rain coming down in sheets.
“Phoenix,” she says again as she runs to the doorway. “Let me make this right. I’m sorry. I truly am. You’re right. I did lie.”
I snap my head around and glare at her. “It’s more than just that. My family can’t allow danger to enter our bubble, and you delivered it on a motherfucking silver platter. You put my brother at risk. Because of you, he risked everything.”
“I didn’t ask Apollo to kill him!”
“But your sister did. And for that, you must pay the consequence. You both will.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your sister has caused issues for this family for the last time. If no one else will do something about it, I sure as hell will.”
“Please, stop and listen to me. Everything happened so fast that day. Mark had—” Her voice cracks and she looks up at me with big wide eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Words aren’t enough,” I counter. “Consequences and actions are how the Godwins respond. Your sister has already been alive longer than she should have.”
She takes a step toward me. “Fine! This was my mess. Allow me to face the consequences. Not my sister! I’ll do whatever you want.” She pauses, looks toward the bedroom window through the doorway, then takes a deep breath. “I’ll pay my penance if it means you trust me again. If it means you don’t go after my sister. After me. Let me prove to you that my sister and I will never do harm to your family. Let me prove to you that I never meant for you to feel this way. Never.”
Ani has the ability to hold a noose around my neck. She’s strangling me with her pleas. She’s fucking pulling the air right out of me.
“Out of this house. Now,” I demand.
I march downstairs and pop my head in the kitchen where the staff are working, acting as if they haven’t heard a single word of the commotion. They are used to keeping Godwin secrets. Years of being in this den of sin is enough to school them that they keep their heads down and their ears closed.
Behind me, I can hear Ani scurrying down the stairs to leave. I issue some orders for them, and they act on my commands immediately. I then turn to head to the foyer where Ani is, putting on her shoes that she had left by the door. She has a backpack slung over her shoulder, and I know—without even checking—that she didn’t dare pack a single thing I bought her. She’s leaving the house with nothing.
She’s kneeling on the ground, which makes my height over her even more ominous.
Ani scurries to her feet. “I really am sorry I lied to you. I would never want to hurt you. Not after how kind you were to me. Especially after what we just… had.”
Her fucking words are stabbing my heart. But even through the pain, my rage is still there. I had tried to contain the monster inside of me for her. I had tried to behave. To be the man who could take romantic walks on the beach. And look what that got me. Lies. Nothing but lies.
Chaos of thoughts swirl in my head. So many thoughts. So many fucking thoughts.
Is there a way to fix all this? Can we turn back time to where she and I are alone on the top of the lighthouse?