Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
It felt like I got smashed in the face all over again.
There she was in that same black, slinky dress, one that I was sure would be emblazoned in my mind for the rest of my life. That white coat tucked tight around her. Not to mention she appeared five feet taller in those silver heels.
For a flash, every dark place in my mind went light.
There was something that had shifted since she’d gotten out of my car earlier. Something that had rearranged in those agate eyes. Determination and heat fired from the depths.
It plundered all logic.
Because I was slammed with a swell of relief.
Because she shouldn’t be here.
Because she needed to go.
Last night had been a mistake. I’d been playing with the type of fire that should have long since been put out. Seeing Gage’s sweet little face had only reiterated that.
I couldn’t drag my family into that type of sordid mess.
I couldn’t seek the revenge I thirsted for so desperately.
I couldn’t touch her.
No matter how fucking bad I wanted to.
Aster stared down at me with her chin lifted the slightest bit. That fierce bravery wobbling with the fear written underneath.
I set my elbow on the arm of my chair and rested my temple on my fingers like I was bored to death while the buzz of energy nearly lit me in flames.
“What are you doing here, Aster? Aren’t you supposed to be on a plane to LA right now?”
“You won me, didn’t you?”
I almost choked. Instead, I forced out an incredulous chuckle. “Honestly, I never took you as the type of woman who could be bought.”
Her face paled in a regret so stark I thought she might sink to her knees. One that made me want to hurtle over the desk to get to her.
She seemed to gather it, to reclaim that ferocity, and she strode forward and sat down on one of the chairs that faced my desk. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Really?” I asked, completely droll while my spirit screamed.
What the hell was she doing?
She blanched and shook and seemed to have to force out the word. “Yes.”
Old spite flooded out with my response. “And why would I ever do you a favor?”
Hurt trembled her mouth. “I’d hoped it would be mutually beneficial.”
Send her packing.
Send her packing.
I sat forward and asked, “How so?”
Her honeyed voice shifted to a plea. “You get to shame Jarek, and I have a place to stay.”
“A place to stay?” My brow cocked in disbelief.
“Yes. Let me stay here, with you.” Her fingers curled into her bag, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
“You want to stay with me?”
Her tongue stroked out to wet her lips. “I can’t go back there, Logan.”
Ironic, considering she’d chosen him over me. Considering that was the life she’d wanted.
The truth that I would never be good enough.
Old rage I’d carried for too many years pushed me to standing, and I stalked around to the front of the desk.
The air shivered as I moved to stand in front of her.
She sat back like she could protect herself from the proximity while I rested on the edge of the desk.
Attraction blazed.
A connection neither of us had been able to resist.
Something I’d felt once in my life and thought I’d never experience again.
And there it was, sparked back to life by this girl who was my one true threat.
Her breaths were hollow, and her eyes whispered over me like I was the one thing she’d been missing.
My dick hardened at the sight.
A haze of lust permeated the room.
Like a fool, I reached out and took her by the chin, my thumb tracing that mouth that could drive a decent man to depravity.
I wasn’t exactly a decent man.
“You should go home, Aster. It’s where you belong.” It was laced with a warning.
“I never belonged there. You know that.” Her words were soft snares.
Pain banged through my being. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”
Her eyes dropped closed, and her chest heaved as she looked away for a moment before she looked back at me. “I need a place to stay, Logan. I can’t go back there. I can’t.”
Rage burned through my spirit. For her. At the thought of what put this desperation on her face.
I couldn’t trust it.
I’d seen it before.
Had fallen for it before.
If my father had been a master-manipulator, she’d been the queen.
My voice dropped to a growl. “You want to stay with me? When I hate you?” It was true. I hated her. Hated her for how much I still loved her.
That she still held the power to fuck me up.
She pinned the fakest smile on her face, like this was a win-win. “You won me, Logan. Let’s show him what that means. What he gambled with. When my father realizes what Jarek has done? What he’s been doing? He’ll set me free.”