Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
The ten thousand has to go straight to that debt, but I still have to work to eat, to live. To pay my part of the rent so the creepy landlord doesn’t throw my family onto the street.
Atticus packs up his case and shakes Jaeger’s hand.
“Thank you, brother,” Jaeger murmurs.
“Anytime. I’ll see you soon, Elodie.”
I shake my head. “I can’t miss work.”
Atticus sighs, and Jaeger claps his arm as if to signal, I’ve got this. The doctor exits, and Jaeger settles next to me. His arms come around me, and his lips press to my head.
It’s not the comfort I’d choose, but it’s comforting all the same. I lean into him, closing my eyes. If only this were a nightmare that would pass when I woke. Because last night feels like a dream, a hallucination. My ankle throbs like a heartbeat, reminding me this is real. The pills have dulled the pain, but it’s still there.
Jaeger rubs my back, and his touch feels so good. How is it that this stranger’s gentleness is the only thing holding me together? “It’ll be okay, bunny,” he says.
My eyes pop open. “No, it won’t. I need that money from Inferno.” I don’t have an emergency fund or insurance or any of the things that an adult is supposed to have sorted out. “Why do you think I agreed to run around naked in the woods in the first place?” I turn my head. I hate sounding desperate. I hate that I am desperate.
He cups my chin with his big, tattooed hand and turns me to face him. “You’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
There’s that ‘we’ again. “Sure,” I agree because I’m too tired to do anything else. This situation is hopeless.
By midday, Jaeger will be long gone, and this will be a memory. If there’s anything life has taught me, it’s that men always leave. My father, my boyfriend, who lured me to the city and then abandoned me. Even my sister’s ex, the father of her children. Men always leave.
Jaeger will be no exception. I’d bet what little money I have on it, plus the hundred thousand dollars I didn’t win.
4
The city of New Rome is vast and dense, with millions of people calling it home. My sister Margot moved here as soon as she turned eighteen. A few years later, I followed a boy here and have been scrabbling to eke out a living ever since.
Jaeger insisted on driving me home. My neighborhood is poor but proud. His black and gold Lykan HyperSport does not fit in at all.
I had no idea being in a gang paid well enough to own such an expensive car. But Fraternitas is more than just a gang.
“You can drop me here,” I say, pointing to the curb at the end of my block. The closer we get to the ancient apartment building where I live, the more my tension rises.
Jaeger ignores me. His car purrs right up to my door. The trio of men who always sit and smoke on a sidewalk bench straighten, their eyes wide.
“Let me out.” I shoulder my purse and try the door, but it’s locked.
He parks the car illegally and hops out, coming around to my side. “I’ll see you to your door,” he says, like an old-fashioned suitor. He’s supposed to be a Fraternitas thug. Who taught him manners?
“No—” I argue, but he’s already unbuckled my seat belt and bundled me into his arms. Everyone on the sidewalk is staring like Jaeger’s a celebrity. One of the smokers even scrambles up to open the door for him. Jaeger nods his thanks.
“This is ridiculous,” I complain as he carries me in. The way my ankle is throbbing, I’m grateful I don’t have to walk, but I’m not going to tell him that.
“No use fighting, bunny,” he whispers in my ear. “You’re hurt. You can’t run.”
I knew it. He’s getting a kick out of this.
“Jokes on you,” I mutter back. “The elevator’s out. Has been for years.” I point to the stairs. “I’m on the tenth floor.”
He makes a hmmm noise but doesn’t miss a step. Ten flights up the stuffy staircase usually leaves me sweaty and out of breath. Jaeger isn’t even breathing hard. I start to struggle as soon as he reaches my floor.
“Put me down.” I don’t want my sister and niece and nephew to see me like this. It’s bad enough that I have a wrapped ankle, and I’m wearing brand new clothes—a sky-blue lounge set and cream-colored lingerie miraculously appeared after Atticus left, along with my purse.
He sets me down and steadies me until I’m stable, holding the wall.
“You need to leave.” If I sound ungrateful, I am. It’s his fault I’m hurt.
I want him gone, no matter how much I know I’ll fantasize about our night together. Sometimes we get what we want, but what we want isn’t always good for us. Asshole men are my cocaine. I’ve been addicted before; I’m not getting sucked in again.