Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Everleigh was right about one thing. Tonight, this ends.
“Why are you doing this?” I spoke up, stumbling over tree roots. “I mean, what is the damn point? I get you loved your dad, but look at how far you’ve gone, Everleigh. Look at what you’ve become. You’ve lied, and deceived, and killed all to avenge a man who deserved what he got.”
“Shut up!”
“No! I won’t shut up. My father didn’t want to kill him. He gave Everton every chance, and he didn’t take it. He kept coming after him, his family, his business. He kept putting innocent people in danger until Alistair had no choice but to take him out.” I tripped and dropped to my knees. Everleigh kicked me on the back, pitching me forward face-first on the ground.
But I didn’t stop.
“If you... should be mad at anyone, it’s Everton. He could’ve lived in peace, in secret, with you. He had the money and contacts to live it up in high style—exiled or not. He could’ve taken you away and would’ve been happy. But no,” I snarled. “He chose revenge. He chose power. And he didn’t choose you.”
Everleigh stepped on my head, grinding my face in the mud. “If you say another word—”
“You’ll what!” I wrenched away, getting free of her. I leaned against a tree to get on my feet. “What will you do that you’re not going to do already, psycho? If I’m dying tonight, you’re going to hear what I have to say. I’ll make sure the words ring in your head long after your hollow victory until you discover none of this shit was worth it... because none of it brings him back.”
She barked a laugh. “That’s rich coming from you. Revenge is pointless because it won’t bring him back? If that’s true, why did you go through all of that to avenge your sister?”
The question stuck me through—pinning me to the tree.
“Huh?” she asked. “Nothing to say? That’s what I thought. Nothing stopped you from making it right, seeing the people who hurt her pay. And nothing’s going to stop me.”
“The difference is Winter didn’t deserve what you did to her! Ashton raped her, you evil freak!”
“I didn’t tell him to do that! I said she wasn’t learning her lesson, so he had to top Wesley, Levi, Giovanni, and Owen. He’s the sick freak for jumping to rape,” she shot back. “I told you, I didn’t want Winter dead. I just wanted her to hang the flag.
“You’re mad at me when you should be mad at that coward who spawned you. If he hadn’t hidden away, floating off from all the pain and destruction he caused, none of this would’ve happened.” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “My father is the monster for choosing revenge and power over me? So what does that make yours, Sinclair?”
I pressed my mouth together, lips trembling. Her digs were a physical ache in my chest. On my worst day—deep down inside—I resented Alistair for leaving us.
Why couldn’t he give Everton the Rogues if the jerk wanted them so much? Weren’t we—Mom, me, and Winter—the true gift worth fighting for?
“You know I’m right.” Everleigh dug the knife in deeper. “Alistair didn’t have to be such a hypocrite, punishing my father for what happened to that kid when other Rogues have done worse. Hello! Leon Dumont is a fucking assassin. He murders people for money, but it’s my dad who crossed the line? Broke the rules? Oh, please.” Her hatred and derision were a living thing crawling up the back of my neck. “You’ve got half a brain, so use it. What’s the real reason Alistair drove him out?”
Everleigh forced me up and pushed me to keep going.
“He wanted rid of anyone who threatened his throne. Alistair ruined his best friend so he could never take what was his. He started this war out of greed and paranoia. Don’t blame me for finishing it.”
I said nothing as we tromped through the forest. The inferno that used to be a multimillion-dollar cabin blazed—lighting our path.
Everleigh forced me to her car and shoved me against the door. “Now, I’ll stash you inside Wolf’s OCD fortress, and we’ll wait for Alistair to show up. Between you and me”—she pressed her lips to my ear—“I’m doing this at Wolf’s place because he’s going down for it. It’ll look like he attacked Alistair for the laptop, it all went wrong, and they took each other out.”
My eyes widened.
“I was never going to let him take over the Rogues. He knows too much about me and what I’ve done. Why would I let someone who can, and would, blackmail me become more powerful?” She laughed. “I swear, it’s some kind of male arrogance that makes them think they’re always the smartest person in the room. It never occurs to them that a woman is telling them what they want to hear until their back is turned and they shut them up for good.”