Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67703 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67703 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Cane stared at me just as coldly, like he couldn’t stand the sight of me.
I wasn’t intimidated by either one of them, but my faith in this plan started to disappear. “It’s nice to see you both.” I could say nothing else, but something needed to be said to break the tension.
“It’d be a lot nicer if you were dead.” Cane was a lot more aggressive than his brother, thinking emotionally rather than logically. He was both loyal to his brother and protective of his niece, so he wanted nothing more than to cause me pain.
“Uncle Cane.” Vanessa stared at him with sheer disappointment. “Don’t say that to him.”
“Why?” Cane kept his eyes on me. “I mean it.”
Crow didn’t intervene, letting his brother say whatever he wanted.
His insult didn’t mean anything to me. I was bulletproof, so words bounced off even better than actual bullets.
“I mean it,” Vanessa hissed. “He’s done nothing but work his ass off—”
“And before he was doing that, he was working his ass off to kill us,” Cane snapped. “So yes, I wish he were dead. I wish he were dead because a piece of trash like this asshole doesn’t deserve you.” He turned to her, his eyes full of anger.
Vanessa was turning red in the face, about to explode. “I’m sick of this. I’m tired of you talking to him that way. In the beginning, I understood. But it’s been almost a month, and you’re still treating him like dirt.”
“He is dirt,” Cane snapped. “I’d spit on him right now if you wouldn’t throw a tantrum about it.”
Crow watched me without blinking, as if I might lose my temper and strike his brother.
If I laid a hand on either one of them, I would never be able to take it back. I had to absorb their rage and keep a stoic face at the same time.
“I mean it.” Vanessa moved in front of me, placing her petite frame between them and me like that would do anything. “Father, you told me you would try. Keep talking to him like that, and I’ll walk out. If you won’t hold up your end of the deal, I won’t hold up mine.”
Crow finally looked at his daughter again, a slight hint of panic in his eyes.
“I didn’t make any deal,” Cane said. “So if I want to do this—” He pulled his hand back and slugged me hard in the face, throwing as much force behind it as he could. “I will.”
I knew it was coming, but I didn’t stop it, letting his fist hit me in the nose and eye. I hardly turned with the punch and didn’t react at all, proving that I was stronger than both of them combined.
Vanessa covered her mouth and shrieked. “Oh my god!”
I turned back to Cane, my jaw clenched with anger, not pain. “That the best you got?”
Cane’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled his arm back again.
“Hit me as many times as you want.” I was letting my temper get the best of me, but I couldn’t control it anymore. “You’re going to do more damage to your fist than you are to my face. I’m harder than stone, harder than anything you can throw at me. So if you want to break your hand against my face, be my fucking guest.”
Cane punched me again, hitting me in the jaw.
I didn’t react again, proving he didn’t have any power over me.
“Stop it!” Tears flooded her eyes, and she pressed herself against me, her hands cupping my face to check my injuries. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”
I grabbed her wrists and gently pulled her hands from my face, my eyes on Cane and not her. “You’re hurting her, not me.”
That seemed to mean something to Cane, because he lowered his hand.
Vanessa turned back to her uncle. “Don’t do that ever again. I mean it. I’ll cover him with my body if I have to.”
Cane kept his eyes on me. “I’ll kill this fucking asshole—”
“Cane.” Crow silenced him with just his name. “I hate him too, but no more.”
I knew he didn’t intervene for Cane or me. He did it for Vanessa, who was still on the verge of tears.
Vanessa turned back to me and buried her face in my chest, her arms hugging my torso. She breathed against me, doing her best to control the emotions that were chaotic inside her heart. She knew I was fine, that I could take pain far worse than this, but letting me be treated this way was killing her. It broke her heart to see her family hate me so viciously, attack me so ruthlessly.
I hated listening to her cry. It killed me. I used to be indifferent to it, but when she was in pain, I was in pain. My hand moved under the fall of her hair, and I cradled her against me. “Baby, it’s alright.”