Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
But she warned me, didn’t she?
She said Holden was hunting me down. I should have known he’d have the money and influence and high-tech crap to find me eventually.
God.
I swallow thickly.
“Isn’t it time to come home?” he demands, rubbing his eyes. “Enough games. Everyone’s worried sick. Your mom thinks you’ve had a mental breakdown. She’s worried, and it’s not fair to just cut her out like this.”
Then it happens.
Holden Corban hugs me with real energy.
Not another one of his awkward cousin-like hugs I’m used to, just a formality for a man who never felt anything for me.
And when he leans in and whispers in my ear, I’m stiff as a board.
“I missed you so much. Come on, Win, let’s go pack your stuff. If we start moving, we can make it home before midnight and—”
Archer appears then, this huge shadow towering over Holden. I use the shock to step out of his arms, forgetting how to breathe.
Archer, though, he hasn’t forgotten anything.
He pushes Holden back with one giant hand, placing himself protectively between us.
“Cool it, little man. Did she say she wants to go with you?” he snarls, an edge to his voice like a sharpened blade. He glances at me, taking in my expression.
I don’t deny it.
What else can I say? Even if this has me sick and confused and stunned, I’m not ready for this conversation with Holden.
I’m definitely not ever going home with him again.
Archer must see the hesitation on my face, and he knows.
His mouth thins into a hard line of judgment.
Holy hell.
I’ve never seen him look so feral before, like he’s perfectly ready to start breaking bones to get his point across.
I want to cry out, to tell Holden to leave and go home without me.
Just go, before he winds up with a broken nose.
But I’m beyond words as Holden stiffens, glowering back at Archer like a mean alley cat, wild fury replacing the shock in his dark eyes.
“Who the hell are you?” he snaps. “Last I checked, this is between my fiancée and me. Nothing to do with you.”
“Ex-fiancée. She’s made that very clear. I’m her landlord,” Archer throws back.
I almost laugh at how he says it.
I want to laugh, or maybe scream. I gave up the fiancée title the moment I left Springfield, and there’s no way I’m taking it back now.
“Oh, her landlord! Excuse me.” Holden gives a cruel, disparaging smile. “Seriously, man, move the fuck over. You’re getting in the way. This is between us.”
Archer tenses in front of me, his back straight and ready for war, harder than a mountain. “The second you threatened her and got in her face, you made it my business.”
“Fuck off. I’m not threatening anyone,” Holden snaps, and tries to sidestep Archer to catch my eye. “Listen to me, Win. You need to come home now. If you just come back, we can still fix it. Everyone gets scared on their wedding day, right? It’s not the end of the world.”
But it is.
That was the day the Winnie Emberly everyone knew died a fiery death.
“I’m not going back, Holden,” I strain out. “Leave.”
“What? For fuck’s sake…” He snarls out a frustrated breath. “Is this because of the tiara? Look, if you want to wear the stupid thing, fine. Just come—”
I don’t let him finish.
My laugh rips out of me, high-pitched and half-insane. “The tiara? The tiara? You honestly think I left you because of a dumb fucking tiara?”
He’s cold, frozen, just watching my eyes spin.
I’m sure I look manic and I don’t care.
“All I know is I texted you about it, then you disappeared.” Holden does his best to barge past Archer, but Archer throws up another hand, and Holden halts in place, scowling. “What the hell is it about if it’s not that? Is this like an actual nervous breakdown? There are pills and doctors for that, you know. Good ones.”
Classic Holden.
Another quick fix he thinks he can solve with money.
For the first time since Archer showed up, I think I can breathe again. Something in my chest relaxes as I look at the man I almost married—the man I despise like nothing else on this planet.
“I said I’m not going back with you,” I say evenly. “Not tonight. Not ever.”
He shakes his head wildly.
“So, what? You’re going to piss your life away here in Kansas City? Away from all your friends and family and your career? Everything that matters? Jesus. Your parents should have dragged you to a shrink the minute you took that leave of absence from my dad’s office. Even he couldn’t believe it.”
Ah yes, the all-powerful, all-knowing, upright senator I don’t work for anymore.
He’s falling back on his gobs of money and influence and legacy back-scratching. But they can’t help him with this.
“And what’s here for you?” he continues, oblivious to the hardening mountain of muscle he lacks between us. “Do you have any clue how much you’ve upset your parents? And mine? Winnie, you’ve freaked out everyone.”