Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
I rose from the armchair and stepped away. “If you aren’t going to buy it, then leave me the fuck alone.” What did he want? Was he there just to torture me? To pour salt in the wound and watch it react?
He rose from the armchair then stepped toward me. “Astrid—”
“Seriously, why are you here?” Despite how calmly he spoke, I turned hysterical, because I could forgive Bolton for his desires for other women, but I couldn’t forgive Theo for using me. “What part of leave me the fuck alone don’t you understand?” I yelled. Yelled because it was just the two of us in that gallery.
He raised his hand slightly to calm me. “Astrid—”
“Buy the painting or get the fuck out.”
“Fine, I’ll take it.” He lowered his hand, his dark eyes piercing my face with a subtle look of desperation.
My eyes flicked back and forth between his, not wanting him to take a piece of art that he didn’t truly appreciate. His butler would probably leave it in a storage room that Theo never visited. The painting would be forgotten. “No. You’ll just destroy it.” The way you destroyed me.
He continued to watch me, a mountain with a permanent shadow, his eyes sharp with intelligence. “I need to talk to you.”
“Why?” My anger began to bubble again.
“Can I take you to lunch—”
“No.”
“Astrid—”
“Leave, or I’ll call Bolton.”
“Call him.” He continued to stare at me like he meant it. “I let him live because of you. But I won’t let him live a second time.”
I was cornered with no escape.
“I just want to talk to you.” Theo continued his hard stare. “Please.”
An invisible barrier had sealed around my heart—and he wouldn’t get through it this time. “Fine.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
He continued to stare at me like he’d already said everything.
“Yes?”
He gave a quiet sigh. “I’m not good at this.”
“What?”
“This,” he said quietly. “I fucked this up, and I wish I could take it back.”
I didn’t expect an apology, not from the Skull King, a man who seemed to have no conscience.
“I said a lot of things to you that I didn’t mean. Things I had to force myself to say.”
My arms tightened over my chest to block my heart from his sight. I wanted to ask him to specify, but I refused to show any interest, to let myself feel any interest, to actually value any words that came out of his traitorous mouth.
“I didn’t know, Astrid.” His authoritative eyes latched on mine. “I mean that. When we met in the rain, I had no idea. When I came to your gallery, I had no idea. When I took you to dinner and kissed you and fucked you, I had no idea. Bolton wants you to think that because it’s in his best interest that you do.”
“He wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Because he asked you for an open marriage?” he asked incredulously. “The only reason a man asks for an open marriage is because he’s already cheating and he doesn’t want to have to hide it anymore.”
My heart gave another painful squeeze. “You don’t know that.”
“No, but you know how good my intuition is, sweetheart.”
I kept a straight face, but I felt the seed of insecurity grow.
He stared for a moment before he pushed past it. “I didn’t know, Astrid. And once I did know…my world became so complicated. Because I want your husband dead for what he did to me, but I steadied my hand because I care for you. Deeply.”
“What did he do to you?” I whispered.
His eyes hardened once more, like he didn’t want to answer. “I told you my brother died.”
“Yes…”
“Who do you think killed him?”
My heart started to race. “He only kills bad people—”
“And you believe that?” He cocked his head slightly. “He kills whoever the fuck he’s paid to kill. Whether that’s a cheating spouse or someone in the way of a good deal. Whether that’s the head of a mafia or an old business partner who still owns half the company. A name for the money. That’s it.”
The concrete wall remained intact, but now there was a crack. “Was your brother a good man?”
He considered the question for a long time, chin tilted slightly down to look at me. “No…but he wasn’t bad either.” The depth of his pain was visible in his stare, his despair like lilies that floated on a pond. “But you were enough to steady my hand. Don’t question my feelings for you.”
I wanted to believe him, wanted it so badly, but my heart was too far gone now. “It didn’t seem like you cared that much when you ruthlessly dumped me…and described it as such.”
He blinked, and in that nanosecond, I saw regret. “I wish I could take that back.”
“Well, you can’t.” I would never tell him how much that hurt, that it was probably the most painful moment of my life. “It’s done, Theo. And I would love it if we could move on—and forget each other.”