Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“I know, Father. We’ve been over this a million times.”
“You’re young. They won’t respect you. You’re going to have to fight for your value within their ranks. Make it known that you’re heading to the top and don’t back down until you’re there. Those men . . . they’re bad news. They will try and manipulate you, try to take your vote. You can’t allow that to happen.”
“I know how to handle a bunch of old bastards,” I tell him. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will,” he insists, gripping the bars tighter. “I trust you to excel, you always have in every aspect of your life. Just as you were raised to do. It’s them I do not trust. They are not the upstanding men they portray themselves to be. They each hold dark secrets, just as I do.”
My brows furrow. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s all in my office desk,” he tells me. “You must go home and burn it all. Every last document you can find. The second I’m gone, others will be prying for information, anything to push you out. You must not let them do that.”
I nod as I hear Oakley’s soft whimpers reverberating down the corridor. “Okay. I will.”
I glance back at her, those big eyes still on me, and my heart races just a little bit faster, my father’s secrets and desperation the furthest thing from my mind. I need to get her out of here.
“Hear me, son,” he demands, reaching through the bars and gripping my chin, forcing me to hold his stare. “Do not fail me. If Zade fails his attempt to claim power, you take it for yourself. You claw your way to the top. Do not let this great Empire crumble. The Thorne legacy must rise.”
“It will,” I lie, knowing with every piece of my being that if Empire were to crumble around me, I’d be the first to fan the flames and help it burn to ashes. Just because I’m loyal to this world, doesn’t mean I have to like who they are, what they stand for, or help it remain in power.
“Son,” he says, his demeanor shifting as he releases my chin and grips the bars again, his eyes softening. My whole body stiffens, knowing this is what I really came here for. “I’ve never told you that I’m proud of you. You’ve grown into an impeccable young man. I didn’t expect for this to happen so soon, but I’ve trained you in my image, and I know you will succeed. You’re exactly what Empire needs.”
I nod, not knowing how to respond to that. Hell, I even start feeling like shit knowing the second my father is dead and buried, I won’t hesitate to betray him. The need to tell him that I love him sits on the end of my tongue, but he’s created such a fractured relationship between us that even now, knowing this could be the very last time I speak to him, the words still won’t fly free.
“That’s enough,” Harrison says, inching closer and gripping my elbow. “Time to go.”
Clenching my jaw, I keep my eyes on my father. “They’re going to be okay,” I promise him, not needing to clarify who I’m referring to. “I won’t let them fall.”
“I know, son,” he says, a slight panic in his tone. “Continue to make me proud.”
“I will.”
Harrison gives me a hard tug, and I fall away from my father, knowing there was so much I wasn’t able to share with him, so much I wish I could have told him. As I’m dragged away, that same desperation pulses through my veins.
My father steps back away from the bars into the darkness of his cell, and I stare after him, hating how much this fucking hurts. I stumble back another few steps until I’m passing Oakley’s cell and she reaches out to me, her fingers brushing over my arm.
Turning to face her, she sees the devastation in my eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” she promises me. “You’re strong, Sawyer. You can get through this.”
I swallow hard and grip onto her cell before Harrison can pull me away. “He’s going to die,” I tell her. “I can’t save him.”
“No, you can’t,” she confirms, not wanting to sugarcoat it. She moves in closer, her hands clutching onto mine as though they’re her only lifeline. “I know you’re hurting, Sawyer, but I need your head in the game. I need you to get me out of here.”
“I know,” I tell her, knowing at some point Harrison is going to drag me away, and when that happens, it’s going to destroy something deep in my chest. Walking away from her right now feels so damn wrong. How can I call myself a man if I leave her rotting away in here? “I promise, we’re coming for you.”