Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Eve watched as he got to his feet and then left the library without a backward glance. For several seconds all she could do was look at the spot he’d vacated.
In the past couple of days, she hadn’t considered the kind of people Grim killed or what he did, or even why he did it. She’d been so overwhelmed by feeling betrayed because he had lied to her, she hadn’t taken a moment to think about him.
Closing the book she’d been reading, and she hadn’t gotten very far, she pushed herself up off the sofa and began to follow him. He wasn’t in the hallway, but she heard the cupboards opening and closing, which could only mean the kitchen. Even though this house was large, when no one was around, every little noise seemed so much louder.
Eve stormed into the kitchen to find him with a bottle of beer in his hand.
“Then why don’t you tell me?” Eve asked.
Grim glared at her.
“You expect me to understand everything you do and yet not once have you given me two minutes of your time to explain it.”
“That’s because you ran off!”
“What do you expect? You killed someone. You tortured them and you even admitted that you didn’t tell me the truth. You certainly didn’t tell me your name. For a year I’ve been calling you Graham.”
“Technically, that is my name.”
She let out a growl. “But before you got used to me calling you Graham, you didn’t actually respond to it!” She put her hands on her hips.
He was so damn tiring with his unnecessary comebacks.
Pressing her fingers to her forehead, she tried to control the headache she knew was coming. This man was insufferable. “You’re not going to divorce me and even though we’re dealing with this, I don’t really want a divorce, so for the time being, we’re stuck with each other.”
“Is that the way you see it, Eve, you’re stuck with me?”
“You’re not helping. Can’t you see I am trying to make this work!” She stamped her foot. “So, rather than try to argue about mundane words, why don’t you actually talk to me?” She wanted to scream and yell at him. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m here and waiting. Just tell me the truth.”
Grim stared at her and she didn’t look away. Clenching her hands into fists, she stood and waited. She did love this man. That love hadn’t died, even though she had thought it would.
Grim popped the cap off his beer and for several seconds, he didn’t speak.
Eve waited.
“I’m not a good man. I have never been a good man and even when we first met, I didn’t claim to be a good man. I’m a bad one, I know that. I’ve never done anything good in my life, apart from meeting you. I wasn’t looking for you. I got a flat tire and I had every intention of changing it myself, but you got there first.” He stopped to take a long sip of his beer. “I deal in a lot of bad shit. I’ve got drugs, guns, and I have casinos, I handle money. I even deal in women, but I don’t sell them.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m willing to do everything but two things—force women, or deal in kids. I know there are people out there that will think this makes me look weak, but I don’t give a fuck. There are limits.”
“So, you don’t kidnap women but you deal with women?”
“I have whores,” Grim said. “Women who want to make money the good old-fashioned way. They make a lot more money than if they were to get a nine-to-five job, and I offer them a safe facility with added security, while taking a percentage. A small one.” He shrugged. “That’s it. I’m not going to tell you the intricacies of my businesses, because you don’t need to know.”
“What you do is dangerous,” she said. It was strange, but she couldn’t hate him.
“Yes, and I deal with bad fucking men as well. The man I killed, the one that made you aware of who I really am, was there to take you from me.” Grim walked around the counter and Eve stayed perfectly still and looked at him. He reached out and touched her cheek.
She didn’t flinch. Grim didn’t scare her, had never scared her.
“I promise you, Eve, no one is ever going to harm you. They’re not going to mess with you, and if they even try, that’s a guaranteed death sentence. I will kill anyone that tries to take you away, and I’m not joking about that shit. You are mine.”
And with that, he pressed a kiss to her lips and then pulled away, stepping out of the room, leaving her a little confused with her lips tingling from his kiss. She had no idea what to think or feel in that moment.