Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“I was thinking about how I should’ve gotten rid of Elliette years ago,” I said. “I should’ve never encouraged a friendship. And when I found out about her not telling me you called during that theater shooting… I knew right then and there she wasn’t the friend I thought she was.”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” I mused. “We can question it all we want now, but it’s not going to change the outcome.”
He nodded, swallowing hard enough I watched his throat bob and the veins in his neck pulse.
“I want to kill her,” he admitted.
My eyes widened. “Quinn…”
“I want to rip her limb from limb, toss her still beating heart into a pool of gasoline, and light her on fire,” he whispered darkly.
Whoa.
For Quinn to be so quietly scary was sending shivers down my spine.
And not bad shivers, either.
I liked the ruthless side of him.
It didn’t come out to play much, but when it did, stand back.
“Listen, Quinn,” I said softly. “You can’t change the past. You can only make better decisions in the future. Making friends is hard, and you are not a bad person for trusting someone who turned out to be off their rocker.”
His eyes turned to me, blank and expressionless. “You can tell me I couldn’t have controlled it all you want,” he growled. “But it’s not something that’ll ever fix itself. I’ll carry the pain of this day in my heart for the rest of my life.”
I felt my heart kick at his words. “Quinn…”
“Go back to sleep, baby,” he whispered, causing my heart to twinge. “Tomorrow morning is soon enough to talk more about this.”
He was right.
I was tired.
It was likely he was tired.
And words needed exchanged, and you always accomplished more on a full night of sleep.
Not that I’d be getting that, since they were waking me up every hour per hospital protocol for concussion.
“Sleep.”
He kissed my cheek, and I forced myself to close my eyes.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe all this would look differently in the morning.
I want a girl who’s easygoing, but also very passionate. Like, she loves taking naps, but will kill you if you wake her up.
—Atlas to Quinn
QUINN
“Any updates?” I asked Atlas as I stood outside of Shayne’s hospital room.
It was going on four in the morning, and I hadn’t slept a wink.
Sadly, Shayne hadn’t either.
“Not a one,” Atlas said from where he was standing.
I groaned in frustration. “She could be anywhere at this point.”
“True,” Atlas admitted. “But she’s cocky enough that she’ll think she didn’t do anything wrong. She was at the end of her four days in a row. Maybe she just willingly played dumb.”
I didn’t know.
I didn’t keep tabs on her like she did on me. I didn’t know what she did in her spare time.
What I did know was that she needed to be found, and fast, or I’d have to start looking for her myself.
“You want me to stay with her while you head to the station?” he asked. “And how’s she doing?”
“Surprisingly well,” I admitted. “Her not being able to feel pain is making the staff somewhat excited, so don’t be surprised if they come in here to check on her more than they need to.”
He and I both knew that Shayne needed a babysitter.
But also, I wanted to get down to the station and make sure that I could get Costas to admit that none of the drugs he’d been dealing, or the prostitutes, were in anyway remotely related to Shayne.
Shayne had already given her statement to a member of my team who had no affiliation with me or Shayne. In doing so, we made sure that it was an impartial statement, and I wasn’t even in the room when it happened.
However, Costas was a different story.
I’d been chasing his ass for a fuckin’ lifetime, it felt like.
He was mine.
“Actually,” I said as I poked my head in the room. “Are you okay if I head down to the station and question your brother? I have some things I need to take care of, and Atlas just got off shift so he can stay with you.”
Shayne rolled her head on the pillow, looking exhausted.
“As long as you bring me back breakfast when you come. Hospital food isn’t going to cut it today,” she grumbled.
Turning back to Atlas, I said, “Give me a minute?”
Atlas nodded and took up his spot on the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and perfecting the act of intimidation.
With the door closed tightly behind me, I headed in Shayne’s direction.
She watched me come, not turning away like she would’ve done only twelve hours ago when I started to get too close.
“What?” she wondered when I continued to stare at her.
I leaned both of my fists into the bed on either side of her hips and stopped with my face only a few inches from hers.