Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Ever since his grandfather's stroke, he's been…off in a way I can't explain. He's softer with me than ever. He tells me over and over that he loves me and that I'm the center of his world. He makes love to me until I can't think or move. But it's like that furrow between his brow never leaves.
He's hiding something, holding it back, and I can't figure it out. But it worries me.
As he helps me from the shower and carefully dries me off, I can't hold back any longer. "Is everything okay?"
I feel like a broken record just asking. I've asked the same damn question at least fifteen times in the last two days.
"Everything is fine, baby." He sounds like a broken record, too. But it's clearly not fine. I'm beginning to worry that arguing with his grandfather right before the elderly man had a stroke is tormenting him, and he's trying to hide it. Or, worse, he's slowly slipping away, locking his heart back behind those walls so nothing can touch it.
It's ironic, really. He's the one with abandonment issues, but I'm the one terrified I'm going to lose him. And I don't know what to do about it. All I know is that there's something he isn't telling me. Something that's eating at him.
And whatever it is…I'm beginning to think he's never going to tell me.
Every day, I fall deeper in love with him…and part of me is terrified that he's shuffling one step closer to breaking my heart entirely. That's not the way I imagined any of this happening after he told me that he loves me. And yet…here we are.
"I've got to go, baby."
I glance up to find him standing in front of me, already dressed for the day, smoothing his tie into place. My heart trembles, threatening to crack.
He leans down, placing a soft kiss on my shoulder and then the side of my neck. "I need to stop by the hospital before I head to the office."
"Okay," I whisper, ducking my head so he doesn't see the tears welling in my eyes.
His hand runs down the side of my face as I follow him out into his lavish bedroom suite. "I love you."
"I love you."
The door clicks shut behind him, leaving me alone. I flop down on the oversized bed, the dark sheets cool against my bare skin. Anxiety churns through me as I gaze out the massive windows at the immaculate landscaped lawn below.
Before I can second guess myself, I grab my phone and dial Triton's number, not even sure if he'll pick up. After the way we left things, I wouldn't blame him for ignoring my call. But I desperately need to hear his voice right now.
"Still mad at me?" I ask when he answers on the fourth ring.
"Depends on why you're calling," he mutters. "Leaving him already?"
"No, asshole. I'm calling because I miss you," I growl, scowling up at the ornate ceiling overhead. "We've never gone this long without talking. I don't like it!"
"Fuck." Triton huffs out a heavy breath. "I don't like it either, baby cousin." He pauses and I hear a muffled voice in the background. "Let me step out and we'll talk."
"You have someone in your room with you? Gross," I tease halfheartedly, trying to summon our usual banter.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
I roll my eyes. Of course he does. He always has some woman hanging around.
"Where's your man?" he asks, his tone sharpening.
"His grandfather had a stroke," I whisper, my throat tightening. "Dalton's…he's not himself."
Triton grunts noncommittally.
"Please, give him a chance," I plead softly. "You don't even know him."
"I know enough to know you're calling now because things aren't as peachy-fucking-keen as you want me to believe, baby cousin," he growls, cutting right to the quick. "Married life isn't all it cracked up to be, is it?"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" I snap, sitting upright on the bed as frustration churns through me.
"Let me guess," he continues ruthlessly. "You're finding out that he's emotionally distant, just like your father? And you're trapped, just like your mom, in a marriage with a man who can't love you? I fucking tried to warn you, Tempest."
"Shut up! You don't know anything about him!" I shout, hating the smug judgment in his voice. As if he knows anything about Dalton.
Maybe he is distant and hiding things, but at least he's loyal. Triton has never been that. He hops from bed to bed like he's trying to fuck his way through every woman in the country.
"And neither do you," Triton retorts harshly.
"You know what? Never mind," I mutter, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "I never should've called. It's clear you're not ever going to give Dalton a fair chance."
"I don't owe him a chance, Tempest. He owes you one," Triton says bluntly before I can end the call. "Are you really sure he's even capable of giving you that?"