Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Huh?”
“It’s my name,” I explain. “My real name. I don’t use it though. I still go by Winter. At least, the majority of the people in my life call me Winter,” I add almost as an afterthought, thinking of the way that the name ‘Ellie’ was always slipping from Grayson’s delicious lips.
“Elodie Ravenwood,” she murmurs, trying the name out on her tongue. “Sounds fancy.”
“It is,” I grumble. “And so is the lifestyle that goes with it.”
Karleigh focuses heavily on me, her gaze boring into mine. “Why do I feel like this isn’t a good thing?”
“It’s not … well … most of it isn’t. I was able to find my parents.”
“Oh, that’s great news,” she beams, her eyes wide.
I give her a blank stare. “They were brutally murdered by the very men who vowed to protect and follow them.”
“Oh.” Her face twists into an awkward cringe and I can’t help but laugh. “You’ve got to look on the bright side,” she continues. “At least you now know where you come from and get a good idea of the people that they once were.”
“Yeah, that’s the whole reason I’m in this mess in the first place.” Her brows drop and I decide to put her out of her misery and lay it all out on the table. “My father, Andrew Ravenwood, was the leader of a prestigious secret society that was on the verge of corruption. They value their traditions, and when my mother gave birth to a baby girl instead of a son to carry on the leadership as my father’s heir, all hell broke loose.”
“Wait … wait, wait, wait. Let me just catch up. You’re telling me that you’re the heir of a secret society.”
I nod. “And a billionaire.”
Karleigh’s mouth drops. “No fucking way,” she breathes, making my fork pause halfway to my mouth at her rare display of foul language. Over the four years that I stayed here, I don’t think I ever heard her curse once. She takes a second to right herself before leaning back in her chair. “Okay, Miss Billionaire Heiress, I’m struggling to see where your issues lie. Because to me, it sounds like you have everything a girl could need.”
“You know that corruption I mentioned?” she nods and I continue. “Well, there are sixteen other families that make up Dynasty, and some of them … aren’t so great. They didn’t approve of my parents going against tradition and didn’t approve of the leadership being handed off to a girl. There’s a whole bunch of other bullshit, but basically it ended up with both of my parents being murdered and me being shipped off into foster care, but they were always watching me, always ready to strike against me, and once I turned eighteen, I was of legal age to take over my father’s reign.”
Her brow arches high. “So, you’re now the leader of this corrupted secret society?”
“Yup.”
“And these people who murdered your parents are now after you?”
“Well … they were. Most of them are dead now.”
Karleigh’s eyes bug out of her head. “Holy fuck,” she mutters to herself, pushing back from the table and crossing the kitchen once again. She comes back with a bottle of wine and instantly takes a swig. “Did you …. did you kill somebody, Winter?”
My lips press into a hard line and she takes another swig of wine before letting her head fall into her hands. She massages her temples as she becomes deep in thought. “I’m going to go ahead and assume that was done out of self-defense,” she states, not wanting a response as she comes to terms with what she’s just learned.
She lets out a breath and looks back up at me, wanting to move right on with the conversation. “So, you’re a big deal, huh?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I guess. Sort of.”
“Okay,” she says, getting comfortable. “So, if most of these bad guys are dead, then what’s your problem? Why are you here looking like you’ve just taken a trip to hell and back?”
“Because along the way, I met four of the most incredible guys. They are lethal and dangerous, and in my own stupidity, I fell in love with each and every one of them. They had my back. They took out the threats that stood against me, and together, the five of us were finally making the changes that Dynasty desperately needed. Until two days ago when they tried to blow me up.”
Karleigh just stares. “I, ummm … I don’t even know what to say to that. You’re in love with four different guys?”
“Seriously? That’s what you took from that?”
“Well, I mean … it’s certainly a strange little arrangement you’ve got there.”
“Can we just focus on the important parts? They tried to kill me. These guys are unstoppable and they know that I’m still alive. I trusted them with everything and they betrayed me, and now they’re not going to stop until I’m dead. They’ve shown their cards now. There’s no going back.”