Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
“I don’t hear anything.” Cooper snorted. “Pathetic. Every time I manage to track you down, you do anything to get out of this conversation—”
“Speaking of, the next time you show up where we are, I’m slapping your ass with a restraining order. You don’t have the balls, nor the funds, to fight me on it. Do not test me. It won’t end well for you.”
“And you think this charade will end well for you?” He gestured wide, his shadow consuming the wall as I shifted Briar Rose until she no longer had a view of it. “I know your weakness, Phil. You and that criminal husband of yours.”
“My god. You think she’ll want you, don’t you?” Philomena’s sarcastic claps filled the barn, and I hoped badly that Cuddlebug was too occupied by our kiss to hear them. “She’s weak. Incapable of speaking up for herself. Yesterday, I swapped my burnt steak with her perfect one. She didn’t say a thing.”
What a fucking …
“Monster,” Cooper finished for me.
I squeezed Briar Rose tighter, searing our lips together, pressing them so close that she couldn’t budge if she tried.
“And you’re out of options. Leave Briar Rose alone.” Philomena’s heels click-clacked against the concrete. “If you don’t, she’ll lose what she has. The money. The pedigree. The reputation. You have nothing to offer her. You’re here as a servant.”
“I’m honored to work a blue-collar job if it means getting a glimpse of my daughter.”
“Yes, well, Briar Rose is used to a certain type of lifestyle. Don’t ruin it for her. She won’t be happy if you enter her life. No sane person wants to live off ramen and tap water in a grimy apartment their deadbeat dad can barely afford.”
With that, Philomena stomped away. Cooper cursed, flipped the middle finger at her retreating back with both hands, and kicked at the dirt-coated floor before trudging along the pathway back to the castle.
As soon as he left earshot, I unlatched my lips from Briar Rose’s. Rather than the sleepy, hazy expression girls usually donned after being kissed by me, her eyes remained wide open and sharp. She fisted her dress, peering around like she feared the shadows would return and consume her. At Sebastian’s sudden, obnoxious snore, she nearly toppled over with fright.
“Oh, god.” She clamped her hand over her mouth, fresh tears springing to her eyes. She didn’t even register the kiss. “Ollie, what am I going to do? It feels like the sky is falling.”
“If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”
I didn’t know how, but I’d find a way. Surely, for her, I would.
“I’m not Da – Jason’s daughter.”
“You’re still Briar Rose Auer. Funny, and sweet, and perfect as they come.”
She shook her head, muttering to herself. “This is why he hates me. This is why they’re getting rid of me.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” I disagreed, even though he did, and I loathed him for it. “This is … good.”
I paused, fumbling to find the right words. By Briar Rose’s skeptic look, I knew I’d failed.
“He hates me.” A bitter chuckle found its way past her lips. “Mom did swap her steak with mine when she realized hers burned, but you want to know what Dad did?”
No.
I had a feeling I’d come closer to first-degree murder if she told me. Still, I nodded for her to continue.
She pried her hands from mine and stood. “He cut off the good half of my burned steak and added it to his own plate, but not before telling me I ate too much for a girl.”
That motherfucker.
“Jason Auer is a scumbag. You don’t need him.”
In fact, she’d be better off without him. Dad hated that such a ‘leech’ owned property next to his, but we still returned to Lake Geneva when we knew the Auers would be here because I needed my Briar Rose fix, or I’d harass my parents until they caved.
“He’s my dad, Oliver.”
“What about Cooper? It’s good that you have a parent who actually adores you. I mean, he came to work here just so he could see you. That’s badass.”
She sniffed, looking down at her dress. Even in the dark, I could see the blood streaks across the pink satin from when she bit my hand.
“Oh.” She grabbed my palm and turned it to face her, unfurling it with delicate fingers. “I am so sorry.”
“No need to be.”
The bleeding had long stopped, and it didn’t matter anyway. I couldn’t feel a thing. In this moment, I realized I was truly and wholly fucked. Up until now, loving Briar Rose had been inconvenient, exasperating, nerve-wrecking, but overall exhilarating. It was, for the most part, fun.
Today, she’d introduced me to the dark side of love. A land where every burn she received lashed at my own skin like a whip, her losses became mine, and her aches weighed down my bones.