Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“She is going to fight us being here,” Easton voices his opinion before I open the door.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t care what she thinks at this point. She is going to treatment, and that’s it. She is not giving up or whatever she thinks she is doing.” Even thinking about her giving up enrages me.
“You don’t have to tell me. We’re on the same page here,” Easton agrees.
We both get out of the truck and make our way to the front door. I knock, and Easton rings the doorbell. When nothing happens after a few seconds, I knock again… and again.
The door finally swings open, revealing Emma on the other side. A weight I didn’t even know was there, is lifted off my chest when I take her in. She is wearing her pajamas and fluffy socks, looking adorable as fuck.
“What do you want?” she snaps.
“Why are you skipping your treatment?” Easton asks before I can make my mouth work.
“What is it to you what I do or don’t do?” She throws back at him.
“This is not the time to be a smartass, pearls,” I say, but it comes more out as a threat. Maybe it should be just that. If that is what it takes.
She folds her arms in front of her chest defensively. “I’m not being a smartass. I’m simply telling you that it’s none of your business if I go to my treatment or not.”
“Damnit, Emma.” I’m so fucking frustrated with her, I want to grab and shake some sense into her. Instead of putting my hands on her, I push past her into the house. “Where is your grandma? I’m sure she is not happy with you, either.”
“She isn’t home, and she knows I’m here,” Emma says, but I don’t believe her. Not the part about Lois knowing.
Easton pushes past Emma into the hallway. “Close the door, pearls. We’re not leaving until you talk to us.”
“There is nothing to talk about.” Emma stands her ground, not moving to close the door. She is definitely giving us the cold shoulder. She is barely even looking us in the eyes.
The more she tries to brush us off, the more annoyed I’m getting, to the point where anger creeps up on me. I don’t want to be angry with her, but she is making it really fucking hard not to be.
“Please, just leave,” Emma pleads, as if us being here causes her physical pain.
“No.” I shake my head. “Not until you explain yourself.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, especially not someone like you.”
It’s like she is trying to hurt my feelings, trying her best to push us away. She expects me to be so frustrated I’ll rush off, but leaving her is the last thing on my mind. She is going to talk to us, even if I have to pry it out of her.
Easton wraps his arms around Emma and moves her out of the way so I can close and lock the door behind us.
When I turn around to face my brother and Emma, she is staring daggers at me. “What now?”
“Talk or I’m going to make you,” I threaten.
“And how are you going to do that?” She questions without an ounce of fear in her voice.
“The only way I know how,” I say without explaining too much to her. The truth is, there is only one way I know to make her submit and open up, and that’s when things get physical.
I lock eyes with my twin, just to confirm we have the same idea. His eyes move toward her bedroom and back. I nod.
“Are you going to walk, or do we have to carry you?”
Emma’s eyes go wide. “Carry me where?”
“To your bedroom, of course,” I say, like it was a stupid question.
“You are not taking me to my bedroom. You are going to leave. Now!” I’m proud of her for keeping her voice strong, even though we all know she is feeling pretty vulnerable right now. She knows we’re not leaving, and that scares her. Not because she is scared of us, she is scared of us finding out the truth, whatever she is hiding.
“Carrying it is, I suppose,” Easton announces before picking Emma up around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder.
“Are you serious?” Emma’s high-pitched voice fills the space.
I follow as Easton carries her into her room and deposits her onto the bed. She immediately scoots away from us, pressing her back to the headboard.
“I’m not doing this with you. You need to leave,” Emma says, but her voice is already losing conviction.
Easton takes off his shoes and climbs onto the bed with Emma. Her eyes are trained on his every move like he is a predator, and she is his prey. He sits down next to her before pulling her into his lap. She fights him at first but gives up quickly.