Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
He bobbed casually to the side as it hit my coffee table and shattered, red wine everywhere. I should have gotten a white wine.
“So just GO THE FUCK HOME TO YOUR WIFE!” My fingers stabbed into my hair as I lost the control that had been hanging by a tiny thread all day. I no longer cared what he thought as tears broke free from my burning eyes.
Jericho whined, ears alert and eyes wide.
Wylder gave him a tiny head shake as if to let him know it wasn’t his fight. And again, his hand balled into a fist as his thumb rubbed that circular promise of forever. Some other woman took his heart and it. Hurt. Like. Hell.
“Livy …”
“No.” My head whipped back and forth over and over again. “You’re not allowed to say my name. You’re not allowed to look at me like this…” I wiped my cheeks and held out my tear-stained hands “…like this affects you.” Choking on a sob, I tucked my newly cut, shoulder-length hair behind my ears. “Are you here for a thank-you? F-fine …” I sucked in a shaky breath. “Thank you for saving my life twice. Take Jericho. We’ll call it even. Just disappear and never come near me again.”
I didn’t mean it. If he took Jericho, I would have to quit my job to accommodate my full-time grieving.
“I’ll leave.”
I nodded, forcing my chin to stay tipped up, jaw clenched.
He made his way to Jericho and hunched down again to scratch behind his ears, kissing him on the head. “Continue to take care of her. Nobody does it better than you,” he whispered.
I choked on another sob and turned my back to him as emotions racked my body. When he opened the door, my mouth moved on its own accord, words pouring out before my brain had time to censor them or keep them from finding life outside of my head. “Do you have k-kids?” My hand covered my mouth as my eyes squeezed shut, wringing out more tears. Someone stole my dreams. Did she take all of them? Were there little Wylders running around?
“Bye, Livy.”
The door clicked shut.
Fucking ghosts.
*
I made it a full week, preparing for the trial of the decade, before I got the nerve to ask Tricia about Floyd and his security detail. Popping into her office with an armful of documents she requested, I set them on her desk and gave her an apprehensive look.
“What is it, Livy? Just ask it.” She didn’t glance up from her computer, hands vigorously moving across the keyboard.
“Floyd lives in Malibu, correct?”
“He has many homes, but yes, he has a residence there. Although, as of late, he’s been spending most of his time in Austin.”
“Texas?”
She grinned, pausing just long enough to give me the duh look.
I frowned. “For your information, Texas doesn’t own the only Austin. There’s one in Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, and I think maybe Utah too. I’m sure there are others as well.”
“Okay, smarty-pants … I give. Why the curiosity about Floyd’s residence?”
“Nothing. Well, actually, I was just wondering about his security detail or the really rich men like him who have security. Does he have multiple details in different locations? Do the same people travel with him? If that’s the case, it would make it really hard to settle down and start a family, right?”
She slipped off her silver framed glasses and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Why are we discussing this?”
My lips quirked to the side for a few seconds. “The guy. Alex, the head of his security detail … I was staring at him last week, but only because he looked familiar, and it’s been driving me crazy. I can’t figure out how I know him, so I just wondered where he lived. Maybe it would jog a memory.”
She slipped back on her glasses and returned her attention to the computer screen. “I don’t know. My guess is that he travels with Floyd, lives with him wherever he’s at.”
“But he had a wedding band on his left ring finger. Do you think his family travels with them?”
She peered at me over the frames of her glasses. “How observant of you to notice his wedding band.” A smirk accompanied her wide-eyed inspection of me.
Behind a fake smile, I tried to hide my disappointment from her lack of information. “Well, my good observations are just some of the reasons I’m here.”
She snapped her wrist in a shooing motion. “Yes, well … go. Observe. Research. Bring me something that will nail these bastards to the wall in court.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Oh … Livy …”
I turned. “Yeah.”
“Floyd will be here next week for another meeting. Maybe you can find the information you’re looking for then.”
I nodded once.
Information? I didn’t need any information. My morbid curiosity had an insatiable hunger, and as usual, nothing good came from it.