Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“Wait a minute.” I didn’t hear him chasing me over the pounding of my feet—and my heart. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me to a stop before turning me around to face him. “So you’re not just a murderer, are you,” he snarls, pulling me close. “You’re also a spy.”
“I wasn’t spying,” I whisper. “I swear!”
“Then why were you standing there? Why were you watching and listening? Tell me!” His fingers bite into my flesh, and I want to beg him to let me go, but I know that would only make it worse.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t trying to spy. I don’t care who you date.”
“You’re so fucking pathetic,” he mutters, his lip curling in disgust. “Dating. Like that has anything to do with it.”
“You know what I mean. I don’t care what you do. Just let me go, all right? I’m not going to tell anybody.” I try in vain to yank my arm free, but he only squeezes until I grind my teeth together to keep from screaming.
“Oh, I know that. Because even though your life is worthless, you still want to keep it, I bet. Though I can’t understand why. I’d rather pitch myself off a roof than be you.”
“Yeah, I got the feeling. But that doesn’t have anything to do with this. It’s none of my business. Let’s just forget the whole thing.”
“Oh, I’m not going to forget.” I suck in a pained gasp when he shoves me against the wall hard enough to rattle my bones. “If you fucking betray me, I’ll kill you. Do you understand? If you tell anyone what you saw, I’ll know you did it. And there won’t be a place on earth you can hide from me. Tell me. Do you understand?”
I do—and I’m damn sick of it. The threats and the cruelty. “Then I guess I might as well tell somebody,” I retort. “My life means nothing at the moment since you’re planning on killing me, anyway.”
I’ve never seen a smile so chilling. “Who knows? There’s a chance that might not need to happen. But I promise, you breathe a word of this, and I’ll kill you without blinking. Or do you doubt me?”
“I don’t doubt you,” I say while looking him straight in the eye. I refuse to beg for my life, especially not to him.
“Good.” He shoves me away, then wipes his hand on his thigh like I soiled him. “Get the fuck out of here and pretend you never heard or saw a thing.”
I’m so glad to be away from him that my feet start moving before I make the conscious thought to flee. I hate letting him see how freaked out I am, but pride isn’t what matters right now. It’s getting out of this in one piece.
At least I know Ren is human, after all. That he’s just as weak as I am, just for a different person. I wonder if Q really would freak out on him if he ever found out. Isn’t that kind of old school, archaic? You might be my best friend, but I’ll cut your hand off if you ever touch my sister. It seems silly.
Then again, I reason as I jump onto the elevator and hide in the corner until the doors close, nothing about these people makes any sense.
They all live by this code that seems completely outdated.
One thing is for sure. Whether or not Q will kill Ren if he finds out, Ren believes he will. It doesn’t occur to me until I reach my room that this might mean I have a little something to hold over Ren’s head.
Not that I would, but he doesn’t know that.
I have to wonder if I could use this to my advantage. Not that I would ever blackmail him or anything, but he might use this as a reason to be a little nicer to me. Maybe if he knows who’s behind my attack and the destruction of my room, he might call off whatever else they have in mind.
I can hope, can’t I?
Right now, hope is all I have.
27
LUCAS
My relationship with Lauren has always been the love-hate kind. Today I’m leaning more toward the latter. Why does she always have to be so right? It’s infuriating.
“I feel like I hit a nerve,” she points out the obvious.
“Why would you tell me that my actions were selfish hit a nerve? Isn’t being selfish my thing?”
“It is, but this time you thought you were doing it for Aspen. You purposely keep Charlotte away from Aspen and tell yourself it’s to protect her.”
“I am.”
“Are you? Or are you scared that Charlotte will tell Aspen about your past? Maybe Aspen and Charlotte will have no trouble building a strong, meaningful relationship in no time, leaving you out.”
With each word coming from her mouth, my irritation grows. She is literally listing every one of my fears, and I’ve had enough. “Okay, I get it. You don’t have to rub it all in my face.”