Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Before I say anything else, a car rolls up in front of the warehouse, and a tall, unknown driver gets out. My legs start working again, and I shoot up from the ground before running toward the vehicle, ready to pull my gun.
But I stumble to a halt when he opens the back door. Eve slowly climbs out, and bile rises up my throat. Her face is bruised, her hair is everywhere, and her bottom lip is swollen. I don’t even know if I can handle hearing what happened to her right now.
I should have fucking killed my father when I had the chance.
Her eyes seem distant, as though she’s not staring at anything in particular, but the second she looks at me, the far-off look fades into relief. In five more long strides, I have her in my arms, and she clings to me, burying her head in my chest as her body begins to shake. It takes me a second to realize she’s sobbing, clutching my shirt in her hands, as small, suppressed sounds escape.
She’s gone through hell since coming here, and I’ve only seen her really cry once. One time. And… I really hope they didn’t fucking do what made her cry.
My entire body is rigid, but I force my arms to stay around her, denying my anger so I can focus on her and whatever in the hell she needs right now. Axle’s eyes meet mine as he approaches, but neither of us even think to question the driver as he speeds away. Fucking shit.
I wish I knew how much damage they’ve done, but I sure as fucking hell don’t want to ask Eve right at this moment.
Axle shakes his head, as though he’s in my head and hearing my thoughts run wild, but I ignore him. He can’t possibly fucking know. There’s no other reason she’d be sobbing and holding me like she can’t let go right now. Nothing else has shaken her but what Jessie almost did.
I bend and lift her, cradling her to me as she tucks her head under my chin. Dampness touches my neck as her tears continue to stream, and I swallow thickly before saying the first stupid thing that comes to my mind.
“Tell me who to kill,” I whisper against her forehead. “I’ll make them disappear.”
Even if she says my father, I’ll fucking do it. At this point, I want a bullet in his brain as much as I want to watch Eve smile. Never thought I’d see the day when I hated him enough to kill him myself.
Eve doesn’t say his name. I really don’t even expect her to answer, because Eve isn’t dark and sick like me. She doesn’t want blood to spill for any reason.
However, she shocks the fuck out of me by actually making a request.
“My uncle.” She leans back, staring at me with watery eyes as her lips thin. “And I want to be there when you do it.”
Chapter 38
EVE
I’m in Drex’s lap, since he refuses to let me out of his sight. I’ve gone over the digital file already. I don’t have to see more proof. Sarah showed me all her findings, including the coroner’s report. Well, Bentley’s findings—the blind man I almost killed for simply walking in.
I’m so messed up.
How did I go from playing in the sandbox with my young brothers, to asking my boyfriend to kill my uncle in the span of a few months? And I meant it when I said it. I still mean it. And that’s Drex’s idea of a romantic gesture—kill the man who killed his girlfriend’s father.
He’s a fucked-up Romeo, and that dark, twisted side of me I didn’t know existed loves him all the more for it.
“The coroner’s report wasn’t doctored, but I stand by the theory he threatened Aaron’s family. Maybe even threatened to expose them to us just to ensure Aaron died and took the suspicion to the grave with him instead of ever ratting him out,” Rush says.
“Sarah gave you all this?” Dash asks me, clicking the button that makes the screen change on the wall, shifting it to the picture of my uncle.
When my jaw grinds, Drex tells him to change the picture, and Dash immediately flips forward to more family documents that tie my uncle and father together. Dad really didn’t want to be linked to absolutely anyone. He tried so hard to keep us a secret… Even tried to keep his brother a secret. I half wonder if he did that to save his brother or himself.
Either way, it allowed his killer to go free for too long.
Ben was right when he told me my father had been killed, probably even gave accurate details of how it all came to pass. He just didn’t accuse the right person. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really does believe it was Drex, despite the fact Sarah thinks it was just him trying to manipulate the facts and turn me against Drex.