Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Colton’s eyes narrow and he watches me for a silent second. “Do I even want to know what you did?”
I shrug my shoulders and fight the smile that attempts to spread across my face. I scrunch up my face and shake my head. “Yeah, maybe it’s best I keep that one to myself.”
Colton laughs and adjusts himself in his seat to see me better. “Why do I get the feeling that my sisters aren’t exactly the reasons you wanted to talk to me?”
“Because they’re not,” I tell him. “I wanted to ask you about my dad.”
His brows shoot up. “Your dad?”
“Yeah, more specifically about what he stole from your father.”
Understanding flashes in his warm eyes and within seconds, he yanks me down off his desk until I fall down onto his lap. “I was wondering when this was going to be brought up.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I know it’s a bit of an awkward topic.”
“No, Jade. Awkward is when you accidentally walk in on your parents fucking. This is just entertaining.”
“Entertaining?” I shriek. “I’m so glad my pain amuses you.”
“It doesn’t,” he soothes, “but watching you fight with yourself over which are the right words to use does. It happened. Your father stole from mine, and while that might be embarrassing or shameful for you, theft isn’t exactly something new for me. It happens all the time. They’re both gone now. It’s in the past.”
I shake my head. “But it's not. My father sold me to your dad. I’m Carrington property. I can’t …” I let out a heavy sigh, unable to find the right words.
“I get it,” he tells me, “and I already told you, I'll do whatever you need to make it go away. I don’t look at you as a possession. As far as I’m concerned, the deal ended when my father was killed. You’re a free woman, Ocean.”
“You see, that’s just the thing. I don't see it like that. There’s still a debt, still a deal that didn’t get seen through.”
“But it did, you were sold and you came here.”
“I … I don’t know. I can’t describe it. It’s like this feeling in my gut that this isn’t over. I don’t even know what my father stole or how much he owed your dad. How could me being here for a month make up for it?”
Colton’s lips press together and the way that his eyes briefly flick away from mine has me narrowing my gaze at him. “You know, don’t you? You know what my father stole?”
Colton sighs and meets my gaze once again. “Yeah,” he says softly. “I looked into it after you first told me about it.”
I suck in a breath, feeling my heart begin to race the same way it does every time my father is brought up in conversation. “Like a band-aid,” I tell him. “Just tell me how freaking bad it is. How much is the debt?”
“3.7 million dollars.”
“WHAT?” I throw myself off Colton’s lap and stare at him in horror, my eyes wide and my heart beating so damn fast that it threatens to beat right out of my chest. “3.7 million dollars? How is that even possible?”
“It was a small velvet bag that was hidden inside my father’s car. It was filled with uncut diamonds that my father hadn’t exactly bought the legal way. He’d parked at a restaurant to meet with some business associates and caught the whole thing on security footage. Your father smashed the window, rummaged through the car, and took off with a whole lot of shit, but the diamonds were the most valuable.”
“3.7 million?” I confirm.
Colton nods and I fall back against his desk, hardly able to hold myself up. “How am I supposed to pay that back?”
“Jade,” he whispers.
“No,” I cut him off before he can give me the bullshit about wiping the debt. That’s a lot of money. Too much to just wipe away and forget. I know his businesses make more than that in the blink of an eye, but that’s not the point. It was stolen from his father, from him by my own flesh and blood and it’s now my responsibility to make it right. “I have to pay it back,” I tell him. “I don’t know how, but I will.”
“Jade, I can’t accept that. Your father sold you to mine and they both agreed that the debt was settled and now I’m letting you go. My family no longer owns you. I’ll do whatever you want, Jade. I’ll sign a fucking release if that will make it better. I’m not going to accept money from you.”
“Why did your father agree to this? What could he possibly have gotten out of having me here with him?”
Colton shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he tells me, just as lost as I am. “It doesn’t make sense to me. Had the diamonds been bought legally, I don’t doubt my father would have had yours arrested and sent to prison. I guess he just wanted to take something from your dad like he’d done to mine.”