Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“On which point are you referencing?” I counter cautiously.
“Finally landing a blow that West can’t stomach. You did well, son.”
He’s such a dick. Only my father could turn his son finally getting married into revenge. “What exactly are you referencing?” I ask again, because despite my assumptions that I know what he’s talking about, my father’s range of nastiness is vast.
“I know you proposed to his daughter. West called me. He promised me deep, unbearable pain if this moves on to become marriage.” He chuckles. “It was amusing, to say the least. Are you really going to marry her?”
“Yes, father,” I look at Carrie, “because I love her.” Her lashes lower, tension sliding over her face with the confirmation that this call is about us. I cut my stare and focus on my father. “She’s off limits. You understand?”
“So says her father, but he won’t be a problem. I’ll handle him.”
“You will not handle him,” I bite out.
“He’s coming for me over you,” he says. “So you handle him or I will. And don’t wait too long. I don’t play sitting duck well. Tell Carrie welcome to the family. I look forward to all the good things she brings with her.” He hangs up.
My jaw clenches and I slide my phone back into my pocket. “Well?” Carrie demands, stepping back in front of me and against the window.
My hands go to her face. “I love you.” I kiss her, a deep, claim-her kind of kiss meant to distract her. I press her against the concrete pillar running up the center of the window, one of my hands sliding under her shirt.
“Reid,” she hisses, catching my hand. “Reid, wait.”
I don’t wait. I kiss her again, cupping her breast and dragging her bra down to tease her nipple. She moans but presses on my chest. “Stop. Damn it, stop. I need to know what just happened. Then feel free to fuck me until I temporarily forget, but I need to know.”
I suck in air and press my hand to the pillar on either side of her head. “Right. Fuck.” I scrub the one-day stubble on my jaw and straighten, my hands settling on my hips. “I’m going to need to go back to the States and deal with this.”
“What? You can’t leave. We have a huge project to navigate.”
“Which you are capable of handling.”
“Reid,” she compels. “What is going on?”
“My father welcomed you to the family. Your father called him and threatened him.”
“Threatened him how?”
“He said that if this continues, he’ll make my father pay in a painful way.”
“What?” Carrie drags a hand through her hair. “Who is he? Really. Who is this man I call my father? What did your father say?”
“He loves how pissed your father is, but he said that your father will come for him and that if I don’t handle him and quickly, he will.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Her hands go to my chest. “I have to go back. You have to stay.”
“Baby, I’ll handle this. You can’t deal with my father, but I will.” I cup her face again. “Listen to me. I will handle this. We’ll go to the meetings tomorrow. I’ll stay a few days, in which I’ll make plans to deal with our fathers, and then head home to deal with all of this. I’ll fly back and we will go to Paris.”
“I can’t go to Paris. I’m going to worry the whole time. Are you okay with that? Can we just have Christmas in our home together?”
My heart softens with those words our home.
“Yes, baby, we can. Of course, we can, but there won’t be anything to worry about when I’m done with our fathers. I’m going to handle it.”
“How?”
“We’ll talk about it. We’ll get Gabe involved. I need to update him. Order us some food. Let me call him while you do and then we’ll talk through our plans while we eat. Yes?”
“I don’t think I can eat.”
“You need to eat, sleep and trust me. I won’t let anything happen to your father.”
“I do trust you. I think I’ve proven that.”
“You have, but you need to remember that now. I got this and I got you.”
“How?”
“By being the brutal asshole you know I can be. I know you trust my ability to be those things. “
“Right about now that makes me happy.”
I kiss her forehead, but she pulls back. “Reid, I love you with all my heart, but I’m scared for my father. Maybe we have to call off the engagement just temporarily. Just until you can do your thing.”
Those words stab me like a sharp blade. “No,” I say in instant rejection. “I told you, you’re protected.”
“But my father is not.”
“Yes. He is. I will protect your father. You have my word. I promise you, Carrie.”
“How, Reid? How can you end this when they won’t let you end it?”