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)
“What happened with Astrid—”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not,” he said. “You’re different, and I’m trying to figure out why.”
“I’m different because I just found out why my brother is dead—because of you.”
His shoulders sank. “Theo, that’s not fair—”
“I had no business with Dante until you asked me to have business with him. When he came to me for a partnership, I would have told him to fuck off because I have plenty of shit on my plate. I did that for you, and I’m the one who paid the price. You didn’t lose anyone. You got your parents back. You got your wife. What do I have? My parents are dead, good fucking riddance. My wife is dead. God rest her pure fucking soul. And now my brother is gone. I lost everything, and you got everything.”
He stared at me, his eyes heavy in sorrow and his breathing uneven.
“As long as Dante is in your life, I’m not in yours.”
“Theo—”
“Fuck off, Axel.” I got up from the table, left my drink behind, and stuck him with the bill.
I opened my drawer and pulled out the cash from the envelope. I tossed it on the bed before I headed to the bathroom.
“I told you it was on the house, honey.”
“I don’t want your fucking pity,” I snapped. “Now, get out.” I stepped into the shower and scrubbed the sweat away before I dried off and looked at myself in the mirror. My face hollow. My eyes dead. Bones frozen solid.
When I returned to the bedroom, Andrea was gone.
The money was still there.
I put it back in the envelope and stuffed it back in the drawer.
A quiet knock sounded on the door from the other room.
“What?” I said loudly, knowing it was my butler now that my guest had left.
He appeared in the open doorway. “Sir, Scarlett is downstairs. Should I—”
“No!”
He lingered for a moment, taken aback by the tone of my voice. “Of course, sir. I’ll tell her you’ve retired for the evening.”
“Tell her to fuck off for all I care.”
He left.
I pulled on a clean pair of boxers and sweatpants. It was too early for bed, so I would probably drink and watch a game in front of the TV. Axel and I used to watch football together, but I never wanted to see his fucking face again.
“I said, he doesn’t want to be disturbed!”
I gave a sigh in annoyance when I realized what was about to happen.
The door flew open in the other room.
“I’m so sorry, sir.” He trailed behind her, unable to stop her because he was too polite to touch her. “I’ll phone the police.”
“Go ahead,” Scarlett said when she faced me, eyes like swords sharpened for battle. “Let’s see what happens.”
“It’s fine,” I said to my butler. “This will be done before the police can get here anyway.”
Both of her eyebrows rose up her face.
My butler excused himself and shut the door.
I stood near the foot of my bed, leaving my shirt off because I didn’t care about showing respect to Axel anymore. “What do you want, Scarlett?”
“What do I want?” she asked, widening her eyes. “My husband is broken, Theo.”
“Yeah? How do you think I feel?”
“I don’t know,” she snapped. “It seems like you don’t feel anything right now.”
I’m trying not to.
“He’s your brother—”
“He’s not my brother—because my brother is dead. I’ll probably never get his bones back because they’re in an oil drum at the bottom of the fucking ocean. If Axel wants my friendship, then I want Dante out of the picture. I want him out of this fucking city. What I really want is him dead, but I’m showing mercy.”
“Mercy? You call that mercy?”
“I stand by what I said.”
“You don’t know if my father is the reason Beau killed Killian. It may be a completely different—”
“Too much of a fucking coincidence.”
“We still don’t know—”
“I’m not in the mood, Scarlett. If you thought you could walk in here and flip your hair and make everything better, you’re delusional. I don’t care if you’re a woman. I won’t go easy on you. Now, get the fuck out.”
Her hands went to her hips. “What happened with Astrid?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re a different person, and I want to know why.”
“I’m a different person because Bolton told me who killed my brother. And the reason he died is because I was stupid enough to help Axel. I don’t know how many fucking times I told him just to kill Dante. Jesus Christ, I should have done it myself and saved us all this bullshit.”
She didn’t jump to her father’s defense. “Theo, even if all that is true, it isn’t Axel’s fault. Don’t punish him for something he didn’t do.”
“He’s guilty.”
“He’s guilty by association—at the most. But you know that Axel would never do anything to hurt you—ever. If it came down to it, he probably would have killed my father before he let anything happen to your brother.”