Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
I croak out, “Thanks.”
This makes him narrow his eyes at me, but he says nothing as he turns and walks out.
His back. I blink, taking in the lines and marks across his skin. Scars from being whipped, but I can’t tell with what. So he hadn’t lied about knowing abuse firsthand. No one would submit to something like that willingly.
When my door closes, I think about racing over and locking it, but I doubt it will keep him out, so I don’t bother.
I grab my phone and try to call my brother again. This time he deigns to answer, and I sit up from where I’d slumped back into the pillows. “Kai? Is that you?”
“You called me, Selena. Who the hell do you think is answering my phone?”
I huff, exhaustion taking hold. “You didn’t answer the phone earlier when I called, so how the hell am I supposed to know what you will or won’t do?”
There’s an edge to his tone when he shoots back. “What do you want? You asked for help, and I sent help. If you’re unhappy with the arrangements, you can handle things on your own like you usually do.”
I tense. On my own. Like I usually do.
He’s not wrong. I don’t ask for help unless I’m already ten feet in quicksand and likely about to drag anyone who helps down with me. It’s disconcerting that he knows me so well after all these years, while I feel like I don’t know him at all.
Either way, his voice, and hell, his words too, are telling me to fuck off. That he’s done his duty as a family member and can’t be bothered anymore.
I don’t know why it hurts, but it does. Nothing should hurt anymore. Not after everything I’ve done to get where I am, after everything I’ve given up.
So, instead of arguing with him, I nod to myself since he can’t see it anyway. “It’s nothing. Just wanted to say I’m safe for now, I guess.”
“Great,” he says, his tone tight, the word rushed. “If you need anything, ask Michail. He might be a hard-ass, but he’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
He hangs up without waiting for me to say goodbye.
I slap my phone on the bedside table again and eyeball the food. I’m not hungry. And there’s no way I can sleep after barely talking to Kai. Or with that stranger in the next room doing god knows what, planning ways to make me miserable while he is on babysitting duty.
I throw off the covers and walk to the empty space in the center of the room, a wide space leading from the bed to the door, then take a deep breath, bring my arms over my head, and fold down to touch my toes. Yoga seems silly to a lot of people, but it helps me, so I do it when I need to.
I spot the door open again while my head is down, my fingers stuck underneath my feet.
He skirts around me slowly, as if he’s trying to figure out what I’m doing.
“Yoga,” I supply. “It’s called yoga.”
He’s still not wearing a shirt, and seeing him again, this time closer to me, is as distracting as it was the first time. He smells like lemongrass and coffee. His hair sticks up in curly puffs like he’s been running his hands through it.
“I know what yoga is.”
I straighten and bring my arms up again, repeating my initial motion, bending down to fold. “Great. What do you want?”
He waves to the tray on my bed. “To make sure you ate something, but it doesn’t look like you have.”
“No, I’ll eat it when I wake up. I need to sleep more than anything right now, which is what I’m trying to do.”
This time, he doesn’t try to mask his contempt. “You think stretching will help you get to sleep?”
I shrug and tuck my hands under my feet again, bending my knees slightly since they are still sore from fighting with the assholes who broke into my house. “At the very least, it keeps me from murdering you in your sleep. So for now, you should be grateful for it.”
His eyes lock on my backside where my shorts have ridden up. “Sure, whatever.”
I stand and shake out my limbs, then sit on my bed since he won’t allow me to focus on the yoga, the sleeping, or the eating apparently. “Did you need something?”
A line forms in the middle of his forehead, and he steps closer, bringing the scent of him closer too. “Yes, actually. I also wanted to know why you think the council is trying to oust you as its leader.”
“Why I think or why they actually are doing it are two different things.”
His gaze bores into mine. “I’m aware of that. Answer the question.”