Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“You answered wrong.”
“You expected me to say ‘I love you’ instead?”
“No, but I won’t be second best to anyone, including Shawn Cooper.”
“Because he’s always been the better man. It just took you coming into our lives to have it all destroyed. You’ve taken it all away and left me with nothing. You can’t fix my heart, but you can at least replace some things you’ve taken.”
“Like?”
“First thing… transfer every penny you took from us back into our accounts and I’ll make sure I leave here in peace, with no blood spilled. Do it now.”
His brows raise. “Like right now?”
“I’m not leaving until it’s done.”
Conceding defeat, Kane moves behind his desk and logs into his laptop. I stand behind with enough distance between us should he try anything. I watch everything, including the confirmation of the funds transfer, every dollar he ever took from us now safely back where it belongs.
He stands and I step away quickly, aiming the Glock at his chest.
Kane raises both hands to signal peace. “Anything else?”
I see my little boy still on the leather chair, wide puppy eyes watching the commotion. “I’m walking out of here with Toby.”
“You named him Toby?”
“You got a problem with that?”
He shakes his head, lips turning into a small smile, and I see a glimmer of the Kane I was once enthralled with. “He suits it. Anything else?”
“Last but most important…” I swallow hard and steady my shaking hand. “You, Kane Alexander, are never going to contact me again. I disappear from your life as if I was never in it. And you disappear from mine, so you can never hurt me again.”
“I don’t know if I can do that, Blythe. I finally had everything I wanted, and now you’re asking me to simply let it go? I’m a ruthless man. I don’t often not get what I want.”
“You don’t have a choice.” I lick the tears from my bottom lip, his handsome face searing into my memory. “I was never yours to begin with.”
Epilogue
Three weeks later.
“Hey, whore, how’s the sun?”
“Like rays of gold shooting from the sky. Warm and sunburny,” I taunt. Amanda laughs because I know she loathes the cold. The barman indicates for another round of cocktails and I agree a little too eagerly. Why the hell not.
“I’m not jealous of the sunburn. You can keep that all to yourself. So, I’m calling because…” she continues, a little hesitant, “I’ve come bearing some news that may be of interest.”
“I’m always terrified when you say that.”
“Don’t be, tell your cabana boy to stop fanning you so you can concentrate. We’ve received a project, and that infamous textured wallpaper will look fabulous in their lobby area, so it won’t be going to waste after all.”
That’s excellent news. “Ah, thank God for that.” Since the secret—not so secret now—project came to a sudden halt, we were left with a shipment of textured wallpaper and nowhere to hang it and a big bill to boot. “How’s little Toby?”
“Missing his mom, but I’m a great aunty so stop stressing. I’ll send you a pic. He’s getting bigger.”
“I’m missing his whole life.” And so far to date, I have, since I left a heartbeat after Tempest-Gate.
“The way this boy eats, he’ll be bigger than you by the time you get home. So…” she says, and I sense some nervousness in her tone. “How’s things settling down?”
“I don’t know, I pretty much ran from the situation and didn’t wait for the dust to settle.”
“Probably a good thing you did. Wanna know my other piece of news?”
“That sounds so ambiguous, but okay.”
“The day after you left, Tempest was closed. So were Othello and Ophelia.”
That’s odd. “Kane closed all his clubs?”
“He sure did.”
“Only one could be classified illegal, and that would only be if someone told the authorities, so I don’t understand why he would close them all.”
“Word is… he’s left town.”
“And how do you know all this?”
“I have my connections. Plus, it’s in the news about the club closures. The news like beautiful people with some cash in the bank.”
Amanda talks some more about work projects, but I can only focus on what she’s said about Kane. He obviously wasn’t raided or arrested for his criminal behavior at Tempest because the media would love to splash that over the news. Instead, he’s closed doors on all affiliated businesses and disappeared.
Perhaps he feared I would tell.
I certainly gave no indication that I wouldn’t.
After he agreed to my terms, I followed him back down the hall, the Glock between his shoulder blades, and ordered the men to untie Sam and Shawn. Once we were almost out the back entrance, in an effort to not draw attention to ourselves, I waited for my husband and sister to be safe.
Kane said he would never hurt me and I believed him.
So, I handed back his Glock. In the dark exit lit only by a faint far-off street light, I could feel the palpable tension between us. I knew he could also which made the whole thing even harder. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to spit in his face and tell him exactly what I thought. But if I did, my words wouldn’t have been all unkind.