Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
His expression is closed to me. But then, it always was, even when it appeared open. I can’t trust anything he says, but this whole story has a ring of truth to it.
Or maybe I’m just a fool who hasn’t learned my lesson.
“Where did it go?” I ask again.
He exhales slowly and closes his eyes. “Did you know I’m originally from Sabine Valley?”
I blink. “No, I didn’t know that.” I’d just assumed either Carver City or, more likely, Olympus.
“I spent most of my time growing up in Olympus, but my uncle and cousins used to run a territory in Sabine. They were betrayed. My uncle was killed and my cousins were forced to flee for their lives. They needed the money. We weren’t exactly close, but family is family. It seemed a small enough price to pay. It was only one job to ensure they were able to have enough money to disappear and stay safe.”
I search his face. Is this the truth or more lies? I thought I could tell the difference, but I’m doubting myself now. I don’t know if I’ll ever trust my instincts again. “If that’s the case—”
“It is.”
“Why not tell my father? Surely he would—”
Alaric snorts. “Your father doesn’t give a fuck about me. He doesn’t give a fuck about the people who are hurt in Olympus by the drugs that come in. He doesn’t give a fuck about anything but maintaining the status quo and lining his pockets with money and power.”
He paints such a horrible picture of my father. I don’t—I can’t believe it. “So you fled to Hades.”
“He has a dearth of male submissives. He was willing to loan me the money in exchange for my working in the Underworld while I repaid it.”
“You exchanged money for sex.”
His lips quirk. “Let’s not throw stones from glass houses.”
He’s right, of course, but I’m not judging him. If he’s telling the truth, he was in an impossible situation. And the money went to help his family, though if they ruled one-third of Sabine Valley, they aren’t good people. No territory leaders are.
That includes Ursa.
I can’t afford to forget that.
“Why does Ursa want revenge against my father?” I press my lips together. “I know what he says.” A tale of betrayal and evil and a man who did what was required for the greater good. But that man and the man Alaric describes can’t be the same person. It doesn’t make sense. One has to be true and the other false. Maybe if I knew more, I could figure things out. “But I don’t know her side of the story.”
“That’s something you’re going to have to ask her. It’s not my story to tell.”
Which means I’ll have to find the courage to ask her myself or go on without knowing. No matter where I’ll land, it won’t be tonight.
I settle down in the bed, suddenly aware that I can feel the heat coming off Alaric’s body. The mattress is king-size, but it’s nowhere near large enough. I consider grabbing some of the pillows from the floor to create a barrier between us, but that feels like admitting just how bothered I am by this situation. It feels like weakness.
Instead I close my eyes and force my body to relax, muscle by muscle. I resent the way his breathing evens out almost immediately. Of course Alaric would have no problem sleeping next to me. Why should he? I was only ever a means to an end.
Maybe that’s how I should be looking at things. Alaric is a means to an end, even if that end is only pleasure. Ursa is a means to an end.
I don’t know if I’m capable of making that shift, but I’m going to try. Better to try and fail than to just submit and be swept along without any agency of my own. At the end of this week, I will walk out of here with enough money to be truly independent for the first time in my life. If I play my cards right, I’ll also walk out sexually experienced and understanding what it is I truly want.
A big if, but it gives me something to strive toward.
It will be enough.
It has to be enough.
Chapter 15
Alaric
I wake up with Zuri on top of me. She’s snuggled up around me like the sexiest teddy bear, hugging me tight. I lie perfectly still as she shifts against me. If she wakes up like this, she’s going to be pissed. If she wakes up like this and I have a cockstand, I’m definitely getting yelled at, and it’s too early for that shit.
She shifts again and I nearly groan. Whatever dreams Zuri’s having, they’re filthy ones from the way she starts to grind against my stomach.
I take a slow breath and grab her hips to give her a little shake. “Wake up, Zuri.”