Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
I stared at him with my mouth agape. Words weren’t coming. Horror, shock, even anguish rolled through me.
I’d lost him because of something Vanna had said?
He dropped his hold on me and stepped back, taking his warmth with him. I didn’t want him to go. He began tugging up his shirt. As much as I enjoyed his muscular body, this wasn’t exactly the time. But he snatched it over his head. My eyes followed it to see him toss it, and then they swung back to meet his gaze.
“You didn’t notice it this morning. But then again, I had you preoccupied,” he said with a tiny trace of humor in his voice.
I dropped my gaze to see him pointing at the tattoo over his heart.
“The day I walked out of your dorm room, I went to have this done. I had just ripped out my fucking heart, giving you what I thought you needed. I wanted my body marked as yours. Even though I couldn’t have you, I would always be yours.”
The memories of the day I’d drawn that came flooding back to me, bringing with it the happiness I’d felt. The excitement that bubbled up in me every time Rome smiled at me. How I believed I was the luckiest girl in the world. That Rome had chosen me. That he had changed his life, his plans, all to be with me.
I reached out and touched the ink with my fingertips. The artist who had copied my sketch did an excellent job.
The swell of emotion inside me was verging on making it hard for me to breathe. It was taking up all the available room in my chest.
The single phoenix feather frayed on one side, and two birds flew out from it. One an eagle and the other a dove.
When I’d sketched it, I’d thought about the phoenix tattoo he’d had done and wanted to create something that would symbolize the two people who were my world and the life I’d found with them. The feather was from Vanna. She was the phoenix. And from it came the eagle, which represented Rome. His strength and protectiveness. And then the dove represented my love. The love I had for the woman who had saved me. And the all-consuming love for the boy who had become my everything.