Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I give a wry chuckle. “Damian to the rescue.”
“He’s really worried about you.”
“Yeah. I owe him a thank you for watching out for you. How’s your mom?”
“She’s under observation, but the doctor reckons she’ll be fine. She has a concussion.”
Gripping her jaw, I hold her fast. “You’re never to do that again, do you understand? You’ll never disobey me again.”
The obstinance I’d gotten to know so well comes over her features. “I had to warn my mom.”
“Tell me you understand, Violet. This isn’t negotiable.”
She takes my wrist and moves my hand away as she says with a spark of anger, “You let Elliot tie you up.”
“Only because he was holding a gun against your head.”
“What were you going to do? Let him shoot you?”
For her? Any day. But I’d never leave her unprotected. I only allowed myself to be constrained because half of Walter’s men, the ones who weren’t supposed to protect my hardheaded wife, were on their way to Gus’s house.
“How long before Walter’s men got there?” I ask.
“They arrived before the ambulance.”
“I told you to trust me.”
“But do you trust me?”
The question takes me by surprise. “You know I do.”
Biting her lip, she looks away.
“Violet.” When she faces me again, I say, “Don’t shut me out.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. “Why didn’t you tell me about the bug you planted in the program?”
I consider my answer. The truth—the whole truth—will hurt her, but by nature, that’s what honesty does. However, honesty cultivates trust, and we’ve worked too hard for our trust to shatter it with selective honesty now.
I wrap my fingers around her hand where it lies small and vulnerable on the covers, anchoring her to me as I open my mouth and give her the naked, honest, hurtful truth. “When Elliot stole my work, I swore revenge. I wasn’t going to let him get away without exposing him. I wanted justice, and you were the instrument I was going to use.”
She reels, but I plough on. “It was only a matter of time before he’d realize he needed the second phase of the program. I was going to let you give it to him with the virus embedded in the code. I wanted you to feel what it felt like to be betrayed, but that was before I knew he blackmailed you and why.”
The hurt I wanted to spare her flares in her stunningly expressive eyes. “You knew why I stole your program. You knew what was at stake. You could’ve told me what your plans were. You didn’t have to punish me.”
I rub a thumb over her knuckles. “I didn’t keep you in the dark to punish you, but you, my beautiful darling, carry your heart on your sleeve, and I couldn’t risk for Elliot to get a drift of my plans. He had to believe the program you gave him was the real deal for my plan to work. He had to see how much it was hurting you to steal from me again.”
“You were always planning on destroying Starley Solutions. That’s the reason you stayed on at the company.”
“More than that.” It’s everything or nothing now. No more hiding ugly facts. “I was going to destroy Gus and Elliot in every way possible before snuffing out their miserable existence for what they did to you.” No more hiding pretty truths. “Because I love you.”
The declaration doesn’t soften her up. My girl doesn’t let me walk over her. She never has. She says with a frown, “I understand why you did it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Betrayal sucks,” I agree.
“Don’t do it again.”
I drag air through my teeth as I shift into a more comfortable position. “Deal.”
Her voice is stern. “Okay.” Then soft again. “Let me get the nurse. You need something for the pain.”
Tightening my fingers around hers, I say, “Since I’m in confession mode, there’s more.”
She tenses.
“Ian isn’t dead,” I continue.
Blinking at me, she says, “What are you talking about? I didn’t follow the news about the heists, but that part was all over the media. Protesters blew up the van that transported him to prison.”
“Damian staged it so that he and Cas could escape over the border. Breaking him out of prison was Cas’s idea. My little brother took care of the rest.”
She only gapes at me for a while. After a long moment, she says, “You took a huge risk telling me.”
My voice is earnest. “No more secrets, Violet. It’s all or nothing.”
A slow smile transforms her beautiful face, making her look radiant. “I guess then it’s all.”
“Good.” Cupping her nape, I drag her to me and tell her in no uncertain terms, “Because I wouldn’t have settled for anything different.”
She closes the last of the distance that remains, pressing our mouths together. When she parts her lips and lets me in, I forget about the pain and everything else. I forget to breathe.