Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Ethan never had any feelings for you, O.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I know that. No need to twist that knife,” I say, not sure why it still hurts to hear it. “He showed me his true feelings the night of the gala.”
“I’m going to kill him for what he did to you. I swear it.”
“Oh, please spare me. Do you remember what I told you when we were dancing?” His eyebrows furrow and I don’t think he does. “I said I was finished with men with ulterior motives. That includes you. I just didn’t realize it at the time, but I do now. I don’t need you, Silas and, more importantly, I don’t want you. I just want to get out of here. So, thank you for managing to get me away from Ethan. For that I am grateful. Now, I need to see my father and understand things, and I need to figure out what I’m doing next. My house is gone. All my things inside those boxes, all the memories. All the lies, I guess is more apt.” My voice trembles.
I push the blanket off once more, not wanting to cry in front of him. Wanting to get away. But Silas sets his hand on my thigh to stop me, and his touch does stop me, the heat of it, the burn. It’s like a brand searing my skin and like the masochist I must be, I want more.
“Sweetheart, if you think you can just walk away from the Foxes, you don’t know them very well.”
“I’m not your sweetheart.” I’m on the verge of tears I don't want to shed. “Let me go.” That last part comes out harried. I try to pry his hand away, but he tightens his hold on my thigh.
“I’m sorry, O, but I can’t let you go. It’s for your own good. You don’t know what these men are capable of. I do. And I think I can guess at what Ethan had planned for you.”
“And what is that exactly?” I snap.
“Your grandfather, if he is that, and I will be certain he is before I allow you anywhere near him or that uncle—”
“Before you allow me?”
“Gordon Carlisle-Bent is a very wealthy man,” he continues as if I haven’t spoken at all. “And, like I said, he’s also a very ill man.”
I hear him this time. “Ill how?”
“He’s dying. That’s why the Foxes are in a rush to get you and Ethan married. It’s probably why your father is in prison. It’s to keep him out of the way. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“It makes no sense,” I interrupt, but he ignores me.
“If Ethan had succeeded, once you and he were married, Sly would have miraculously located your grandfather who has supposedly been searching for you all your life. He’d reunite the two of you, and Carlisle-Bent would have his new heiress. Once he’s gone, that money is yours. And once you’re gone, it’s Ethan’s.”
This takes me a full minute. And when I get it, when I understand what he is suggesting, I laugh. I laugh an insane laugh.
“You’re saying Ethan’s plan was to marry me and murder me once I inherited this great fortune?”
The turquoise of Silas’s eyes hardens into shards of sea glass.
“Wait, you’re serious. You believe this?” I ask.
Nothing.
“You think Ethan is capable of murder?”
“I don’t, actually. I don’t think he has the stomach for it. But there’s another player. Chandler Carlisle-Bent. And his stomach may be a little stronger. I’m guessing he’s back for his share of the money.”
“Okay you’ve lost your mind now. That or hell, maybe you’re just projecting what you’d do on them now. Ethan may be capable of many things, but murder? What do you think? He’s hiring it out?”
“I know them, Ophelia. I know them better than you ever have.”
“Okay. You’ve lost your mind. I’m leaving now. Where are my clothes?”
“You will get clothes tomorrow. We will leave together then. If you’re being reasonable by then, that is.”
“No. We won’t leave together. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Then you’re not going anywhere at all,” he says, straightening to his full height. When he does, I realize how alone I am, how powerless here in this cabin with this man who can easily keep me here even if I were to fight him with everything I have. For whom it would take no effort at all to overpower me. Lourdes is here, and her brother whom I haven’t seen, but I have a feeling their loyalties lie with Silas.
“I’m leaving,” I say, trying to sound determined.
“Tomorrow. With me,” he reiterates. “Because there’s only one way I can be sure they won’t be able to execute their plan.”
“And how is that?”
“You can’t marry Ethan Fox if you’re already married to me.”
4
SILAS
Ophelia’s eyebrows disappear into her hairline. She opens her mouth, closes it again, then shifts her position to sit at the edge of the bed facing me.