Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“River, you know that I’ve got history with him—” I started, feeling a little panicky, but he cut me off.
River shook his head, clenching his jaw. “Adelaide, I wouldn’t give a shit if he was currently the father of the kid that you’re carrying inside of you. He’s known you almost his entire life, and he knows how to get under your skin. What he did the other day… he fucking did that shit on purpose, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not. He knew he could get to you. He knows you still feel something for him, and he’s going to keep bringing it up to the surface as much as he can. I promise you, he doesn’t give the slightest shit how much he hurts you while he does it. Tristan is a selfish son of a bitch, and he will go to whatever means is necessary to take you back home with him.”
I instantly went defensive. Tristan and I had our differences, but I knew he still cared about me in his own sick, twisted way, just as Joey did.
“Tristan fucking cares about me, River—”
“Not in the way he fucking should, Adelaide,” River cut me off, his voice remaining calm, though I knew if had he been arguing with anyone else, he would have lost his shit already. “You’re a woman that deserves to be treasured.” I swallowed hard at his words, my chest tight. “I know you’re not the easiest woman to please and that sometimes being with you can be like handling the most fragile piece of glass—one wrong move, and it could all go to shit. I know that you’ve got a temper, and ninety-nine percent of the time, you speak without thinking first.” My breath hitched in my throat. He knew me so fucking well. My heart swelled in my chest as tears burned at the backs of my eyes.
He looked at me, letting his blue eyes meet mine. “You’re an independent woman, Adelaide, and you don’t like feeling like someone is controlling you. You require a certain kind of care and love, and Tristan doesn’t give a shit enough to understand that. He never will. As long as he’s happy, not a fucking thing else matters to him.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off before I could. “Adelaide, I love you,” he confessed, making my breath hitch in my throat again as those tears I’d been holding back spilled over onto my cheeks. “I love that you’re not easy to please. I love that I have to handle you with extra care. I love that you’ve got a fiery ass temper and that you’re not afraid to speak what you feel. I don’t mind that you’re an independent kind of woman, Adelaide. I don’t want a woman I have to control all of the time. I want and need a woman who is capable of making her own decisions and capable of taking care of her family if the time ever comes for it.”
He gently set down a sleeping Axel on the bed and reached over to cradle my face in his hands as tears streamed down my cheeks. “Tristan and Joey never understood you, Adelaide. They never tried to. I think Joey understood to an extent, but both of those men just wanted to keep you on a tight leash, and it made them lose you multiple times.” My bottom lip trembled as a quiet sob fell from my lips. “Darlin’, you require a special kind of love and care, and I’m prepared to give that to you. You don’t need to be controlled. You just need some freedom, Adelaide, and I know that as long as I give you everything you need, you’ll be here right beside me where you belong, where I need you to be. And that’s something no other man will never understand about you.”
“Fuck, River,” I choked out as I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. He instantly kissed me back as I straddled his lap, wrapping my legs around his hips. “I love you, too.” My voice trembled on my confession, but how could it not when River had just poured his fucking heart out to me?
He peppered gentle kisses all over my face. “Promise me you’ll never try to make excuses for Tristan or Joey ever again,” he begged me. “Because if I can figure you out, then they could have, too. Joey is trying now. I know that. But when you were his, he still didn’t get it.”
I nodded, realizing he was right. I hadn’t once felt trapped with River as I had with Tristan and Joey. With River, I could be independent. I could be myself without having to worry about any backlash. I could snap at him without fear of him getting angry at me and trying to dominate me, trying to pull that leash tight around my neck.