Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
The silence stretched longer than was comfortable. So long, I blurted out more.
“Lucien and I hooked up, and it didn’t feel like the last time. Wilder and I get closer every day. As for Cato, he pretty much claimed me as his the week he met me. It’s pointless to argue that with him... especially because I don’t want to. And Rafael,” I whispered. “There’s no wondering or will-we, won’t-we with him. We’re dating now, Victor. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Get out.”
My heart fell out of my butt. “Victor, please.”
“Out, Sinclair.” He glared, dropping the temperature twenty degrees. “Get the fuck off me, and don’t come back.”
“Just listen to me. It’s not what you think.”
Victor bucked, trying to throw me off. “Out!”
“No!” I dropped, snaking my arms and legs around him.
“What the— Shit!” He flipped over on his hands and knees. Victor actually tried to shake me off.
I clung to his bare chest, legs hooked around his waist and sliding along his boxer band. Victor flung back and grabbed my thighs, trying to pry me off that way.
“Damn it, Sinclair! Let go.”
“Not until you let me explain!”
The push-pull friction heated his lap, drawing his boxers down. Bunching my panties between my cheeks. We were skin on skin.
“If you don’t let—”
“Heavens,” a voice cried.
We snapped around, landing on a flustered butler. He hurriedly set down my lunch tray and rushed out without another word.
“Fuck’s sake,” Victor snapped. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
I locked my elbows just in case. My forehead pressed against his and I didn’t care. I wasn’t going anywhere until we worked this out. “You wouldn’t be this mad if that was true.”
“Are you serious? You came in here and actually tried to make me feel bad for hooking up with one—one—girl while we still hated each other, and here the fuck you were sleeping with all the Rogues. Now you’re bragging about it while saying you want to start over—you, your fiancé, and your four boyfriends!”
“Rafael is my boyfriend. Wilder, Lucien, Cato, and I aren’t there yet—”
“Do you think that’s the point!?” He grabbed my hips but didn’t pull. “How would you feel if I said I wanted a ‘fresh start,’ but by the way, I’ll be fucking Everleigh on the side.”
My teeth gritted. “Why do you keep bringing her up?”
Swirling amber eyes burned me. “Because you keep making that face when I do. You know how fucked up this is, Luna. I’d never expect you to be okay with being second best. Don’t ask me to be okay with being fifth.”
“Victor.” My fingers tangled in his hair, stroking the nape of his neck. “That’s not what I’m asking.”
“Really? Because I doubt you were about to follow that speech by saying you’re dumping all of them, moving out, and committing to starting over with me.”
My voice was soft. “Is that what you want me to say?”
His jaw clamped shut. His ticcing vein beat as fast as my heart.
“You’re not fifth best, Victor. I... I don’t know what you are,” I cried. “We haven’t had a chance to figure that out yet. What I’m saying is I want us to have that chance. We get to know each other for real. See if there could be something between us, even if that something is just friendship. I believe that the Rogues could be okay with sharing me. Can you?”
“Why should I share my wife? What do I get out of that?”
Lips trembling, I cupped his cheek. “Me.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Victor reached up, and for a moment, I thought he would cover my hand with his. “We’re even now.”
“What?”
He dropped his hand. “I tried to use you to take over the company. Now you’re using the threat of my disinheritance to get all the power in our relationship. You’ll marry me, as long as you get to fuck whoever you want, and I don’t say a word about it.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s not it at all. I don’t—”
“Save it.”
Victor climbed off the bed. He didn’t force or use his strength. Holding my gaze, he peeled my legs and arms off him. He set me on my feet, then walked away.
I don’t know how long I stood there, staring at the door he disappeared through. It wasn’t until the shower shut off that I finally picked up my feet and left. I didn’t think he wanted to see my face when he came out, and I couldn’t take round two.
I descended the stairs in a daze—his words playing over and over in my head. He thought I was turning the tables on him, trying to blackmail him into a relationship he didn’t want. But what did it mean if he never accepted Rafael, or the growing feelings I had for Lucien, Wilder, and Cato?
Was I supposed to give up the men who accepted and protected me when no one else did? A paid security guard walked away when Katie called for help, but the Rogues didn’t. They busted in and beat the shit out of Owen and the others. They’ve risked everything to help me avenge Winter. They held me while I cried in my sleep. Stayed up late talking to me. Made me laugh when I’d forgotten what that sounded like.