Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
The brown leather fob is worn and cracked—it always was. I never understood why Larson didn’t get a better chain for his prized possession. At the end of the leather, a small brass charm dangles. It’s shaped like an old key, its edges softened by time. I run my fingers over the embossed initials. AL. Alfred Larson.
When the cops found Larson dead in his home—a bullet to the chest—his wallet and his pocket watch were gone. Nothing else.
Nothing else that they knew of, that is.
The money he’d buried outside his house was gone. No one ever knew. No one ever found out.
All the authorities found was a dead body.
Killed by Larson. The bullet was from one of his pistols.
The other was Larson. Forensics determined that the trespasser had been dead for hours before Larson was shot.
Larson’s killer was never found.
And no one saw Jake again. He left a suicide note at Larson’s home, but his body was never recovered.
No one mourned Larson. He had no family or friends.
None of what the cops found added up perfectly, but the story made more than enough sense at the time.
Brett believed it.
Alex believed it.
Seb believed it.
But I know the truth.
I made a promise all those years ago—a promise to a friend who trusted me with his life. I’ve never breathed a word.
But this isn’t over. Something has stirred the pot of this mess we all assumed was buried long ago.
“River, what are you doing?”
I jerk at Emily’s query.
Damn! I hastily shove everything back into the safe.
“Nothing.” I quickly close the safe and turn the lock. I rise and face her.
She looks beautiful, her hair in disarray and her skin supple and smooth. Her lips are still swollen from our kisses. Her gorgeous body is covered by one of the sheets from my bed. I slide my hand under it and wrench it off her. It falls around her feet in a creamy puddle.
I could take her so easily. Right here on the floor by the closet door. Rug burns? Who the hell cares?
I pull her to me.
But she stops me, bracing her hands against my chest.
“River...”
God, the way she says my name. Riv-uh.
I used her last night. And she let me. So much is going through my head. Everything with Evangeline and Misty. Brett, who thinks he can relive what he never had with Jake with his half-sister.
And yes.
I think Misty is Jake’s half sister. I see enough similarities in their facial features to believe it.
She doesn’t know about Jake. Only that her birth mother had another child, a son.
No one knows about Jake.
I made sure of it.
“Please, Em...” I say. “I need you. I won’t be rough like last night. I’ll make love to you the way you deserve.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t. Not until we talk.”
Talk? Hell, the last thing I want to do is talk.
“Talk about what?” My tone is short, a little harsher than I intend.
She winces slightly, her delicate hands falling from my chest. “I... I’m having feelings, and I...”
My flesh heats, and I slide my finger over the silky skin of her cheek. “What kind of feelings?”
“I can’t tell you. At least not until I’m completely honest with you.”
My stomach drops. She hasn’t been honest? Jesus Christ, is anyone on this island who they seem to be?
God knows Brett kept a huge secret from the rest of us, and I’m the only one he trusted with it only days ago.
And me?
I’ve been keeping the biggest secret of all.
“About what, Emily?” I ask, my voice softer now, a stark contrast to the earlier harshness. The words hang in the air between us, creating an unspoken tension.
She looks away and takes a deep breath. “I haven’t been completely honest about why I’m here,” she whispers, her voice barely audible.
My heart pounds, and I swallow hard. “Emily,” I urge. “Just say what you need to say.”
She’s silent a moment longer, until—
“Do you feel anything for me, River? Anything other than physical attraction?”
Whoa. That came out of left field. She said she couldn’t tell me her feelings until... Oh, hell. I don’t know what to think. I let out a sigh. “What do you mean?”
She curls her hands into fists, and a rosy flush covers her naked body. Her nipples are hard, and what I wouldn’t give to suck one of them between my lips.
She bends down, picks up the sheet, and wraps it around herself once more.
I get the hint.
No kisses.
No nipple sucking.
No fucking.
Not until she tells me what she feels she needs to tell me.
I sigh, walk to the bed, sit down, and pat the spot next to me. “Come here.”
She complies.
And I wait.
A moment passes. Another.
“Emily...”
She turns and meets my gaze. Her light-blue eyes are uneasy. “I’m in trouble, River. I need help.”
Help? Right now I’d give my ranch to keep that anguished look out of her beautiful eyes. “What can I do for you?”