Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“No. Sort of… maybe.” His eyes scream, love me.
I hold his hand tighter. “Maybe,” I repeat like he’s full of shit.
He shakes out my hand, just so he can slide his strong arm over my shoulders. I keep my forearm on his knee. We’re quiet for half a second, and right when I’m about to speak, voices pitch high from the tower room.
Our heads turn forward.
I strain my ears.
“If you want her to stop, just fucking tell her!” Thatcher yells.
Shit.
Maximoff stiffens, on edge.
I stand off the ground, and he’s quick to follow suit. I wrap an arm around his muscular waist, my pulse trying to ratchet up.
“You tell her!” Beckett shouts.
“I can’t!” Thatcher yells, but whatever he says after that is harder to hear.
A long pause strangles the air.
I barely catch Beckett’s next words. “I’m getting Moffy.” Footsteps squeak along floorboards, nearing the door.
My eyes burn.
Now this shit is digging into me. It’s about to gut me. And I can’t take his spot. I can’t join him in using drugs. He’d want me to be sober and in control so I can take care of him when he feels out of control, and I will be.
But I’m concerned about this entire shit plan. Addiction runs in his family, and he’s going to be paranoid if he crosses that line.
And I can’t see the future.
I don’t know if he’ll crave a second hit of coke after the first, but the fact is that cocaine is extremely fucking addictive after just one use. People constantly chase after that high, and I’m not banking on Beckett stopping Maximoff if he’s not even willing to stop his sister.
Instinct tugs at me to keep him safe.
Keep him safe.
Maximoff blinks, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “What’s it like?”
I frown. “I don’t follow.”
“Cocaine. What does it feel like?” He’s packing his survival kit. He wants me to prepare him for this shit.
My esophagus sears like I’m swallowing pain, but we’ve drawn closer. I cup the back of his head, my fingers threading his thick hair. I give him what he needs. “You’ll most likely feel physically numb at first.”
His brows furrow. “Is it like weed?” He accidentally ate a pot cookie during the FanCon tour, so he understands that edible high.
“No.”
His cheekbones sharpen, eyes reddening. “Great, so it’s way better then. Tons of fun, like a goddamn party in my head.”
“Sure.” I sweep him.
He’s scared. And he glances around, like he’s also afraid someone else will see.
I bring him to my chest at the same time that he pulls me into his. Our bodies meld together, his pulse pounding against me.
“I’m not going anywhere, Maximoff.”
His arms strengthen around my shoulders, his palm warming the back of my neck.
I draw back, just enough to clasp his jaw.
We kiss, tender and light.
I can feel his pulse slowing.
He knows it’s not too late to back out, and I know he’ll want to try to help Beckett no matter what.
He’s risking his body for his cousin.
“You still think this is a bad idea?” Maximoff asks seriously.
My brows shoot up. “Yeah. It’s not like it worked the first time.”
Past history: his uncle did the same thing for his dad. Only Loren Hale didn’t stop Ryke Meadows from drinking alcohol.
He let him destroy his sobriety.
Maximoff stares into me. “Can you tell me more? Like how long do you think the high will last?”
The more that he admits to me that he doesn’t know shit about cocaine, the more my ribcage constricts and my heart crushes. “It’ll be—”
“Banks to Farrow,” Thatcher says over comms, pretending to be his brother on the radio. “Barricade the door. Don’t let Beckett out.”
He’s not calling Maximoff inside, and we’re already standing right outside of the door.
I take a hand off my fiancé to click my mic. “Done.”
We go quiet and listen, not separating. Our arms still around each other. It feels like a few minutes pass, but I’m not looking at the time. We only let out audible breath when Beckett yells, “Stop! Wait, just stop!”
Maximoff shuts his eyes in a long blink. “Jesus.” That wasn’t easy, just standing here listening.
I relax more.
He tries to match me and roll out his shoulders. “Told you he’d stop her.” The air lightens.
I roll my eyes into a short laugh. “Man, take this win. I’m happy to be wrong.”
“Me too.”
TEN
SNICKERS, MOBY-DICK, & THE YALE SWEATSHIRT
JANUARY 2039
DURING CHAPTER 37 IN SINFUL LIKE US
We listened to "Nothing Else Matters" by Miley Cyrus while writing this bonus scene.
Character List:
Jack Highland - 27
Jane Cobalt - 23
Maximoff Hale - 23
Charlie Cobalt - 21
Joana Oliveira - 19
Bodyguards:
Oscar Oliveira - 31 Omega (Current Client: Charlie Cobalt)
Farrow Keene - 28 Omega (Current Client: Maximoff Hale)
Tony Ramella - 28 Epsilon (Current Client: Jane Cobalt)
Thatcher Moretti - 28 Omega (Current Client: Xander Hale)
O’Malley - 27 Epsilon (Current Client: Beckett Cobalt)
Paul Donnelly - 27 Omega (Current Client: Xander Hale)