Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
As soon as Cruella and her sons are gone, I slip into the house. They haven’t paused to wonder where Lionel is yet because he normally works late and as for me, well, no one really cares. I stay inside this house most days. My father doesn’t let me get too far. I could say he’s an overprotective doting dad but that’s not true. I’m a business asset and he can’t risk losing me.
I grab the emergency bag I keep ready. Dad always insisted I have one with a spare identity. Now I know why.
I take one last look around my room. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be free. To live my own life. For a moment, the idea of running into the wind strikes me. I could forget about the fake identity cards my father gave me. I have enough of a head start that I could start over as someone else on my own. Except things don’t work that way in my world. I’d always be looking over my shoulder. Always anticipating the day when Bruce would show up and drag me back into the family. Because once a man like Lionel Lancaster owns you, he doesn’t let go.
No, the smart thing for me to do is continue to wait. To bide my time. If my father survives this, he’ll hunt me to the ends of the earth. The old scar on my back burns again and I rub it absently.
Forcing back the memories of a scared little girl, I run through a catalog of people I could stay with. That’s when a pair of smoldering brown eyes floats into my mind.
Ryker Sullivan.
He’s a former Army Ranger turned scowling cowboy. He’s tough, unyielding, and so very hot. He’s also my ex-boyfriend’s dad.
Three years ago, I met him at Ian’s birthday party. I’d always hated Ian, but my father insisted I date him. It was good for business, and I knew better than to defy Lionel. No one—not even his daughter—is allowed to do that.
What I hadn’t counted on the day of Ian’s party was Ryker showing up. He’d come in jeans and a leather jacket with a white t-shirt beneath it. The jacket stretched so tight against his arms that I was certain he’d burst out of it like the Hulk.
It was obvious he hadn’t been told the event was black-tie. Most of the guests wouldn’t deign to speak with him. The few that would made no attempt to hide their scorn. He was an Army Ranger, a man used to working with his hands if those callouses were anything to go by. That meant he was beneath them.
I never saw Ryker lose his cool. I watched him through the whole party, fascinated by this man who could walk into their world without being the slightest bit uncomfortable. He was a man completely confident in himself, and I envied that.
Maybe that’s why I slipped outside after he did. He was on the balcony, leaning over and treating me to a view of the most perfect denim clad ass I’d ever seen. He blew out his breath slowly. Only the slight tilt of his head gave away the fact that he realized he wasn’t alone anymore.
“You’ve been watching me all night, Tigress,” he said. His voice was rich and warm, like the brandy I sometimes drank when my father offered it to me.
I joined him on the balcony, leaning over the railing. I looked out over the expansive gardens that Ian’s father owned. Like my father, Adam Barrett was into extravagant displays of his wealth.
“I’m curious about you,” I admitted as the cool night air washed over my heated cheeks. I hated these fancy events. I hated pretending that everyone here liked each other. They were a bunch of vipers. Just like my family, Ian’s is filled with greedy bastards all waiting for their chance to betray each other. Why wasn’t I getting that vibe from Ryker? Why did he feel like a man set apart? And why was that so damn sexy?
From the corner of my eye, I watched his full lips twitch. I’d amused him though I didn’t know how or why. Still, I waited for him to tell me more about who he was and why he was here. He seemed like the type that would be more comfortable sitting on his front porch with a cold beer than at a black-tie event with the city’s most elite criminals.
When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to tell me anything, I finally asked the question that was burning on the tip of my tongue, “Adam hates you and Ian despises you, but you’re able to waltz into this party. Why haven’t they just killed you?”
He’d laughed then. It was a dark, gritty sound. “Because they know if that first bullet misses, I’ll rain down hell on them.”