Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“No.”
“Good. I want to go again.”
FORTY-TWO
SOREN
She thinks I was joking about marrying her, but I wasn’t.
I love her.
I never thought those words would enter my head about a woman, but I really fucking love her. I never wanted kids, but I meant it when I said Oliver is a good one, and I look forward to getting to know him better. However, if she ever changes her mind and decides she wants more children, I will have kids with her. That’s how deep I’m in.
She’s still snuggled in bed, sound asleep, as I get dressed. She doesn’t open her eyes until I come back into the bedroom, holding a cup of coffee for her. She smiles, sits up, and then takes it from my hand.
I clear my throat, preparing to tell her things I’ve never said to another woman. I’m entrusting her with information that could destroy many people, not just me.
“The Forsaken is made up of members who have some dark past they want hidden, or some darkness they want to explore and not get caught while doing it. That’s why it was formed generations ago,” I explain.
She doesn’t interrupt or ask why I’m telling her this.
“We have members in various businesses, organizations, and civil service positions, but one thing we all have in common is that we have money and influence. Money is a powerful thing, and it grants us the ability to cover up many vices and misdeeds. Namely, the hunt.”
My original plan was only to tell her enough to hopefully satisfy her curiosity. But for some reason, I don’t want to hide things from her. I reach into my back pocket, pull out my phone, and bring up an article about the red-headed man we used as prey in the last hunt.
“You’ve heard of him?” I ask.
She takes my phone and looks at it, skimming the article.
“I wrote this article,” she says. “The things I found out about that man were terrible. He should be buried and never found again.” She hands me back my phone, and I slip it back into my pocket.
“I want to start a life with you. And I know you value honesty. And I have been honest and truthful with you, to an extent.” I pause.
“I want you to be my wife, Cressida. I want you to attend Forsaken events with me. I am their Lord, but I am not a lord without a lady by my side,” I tell her.
“There are some things I can’t tell you about the hunt, though.”
“It’s okay, Soren, I trust you. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to or can’t.”
“But I want to tell you everything. I don’t want you to hide things from me, and I don’t want to hide things from you.”
“I won’t hide anything from you,” she says, and I believe her.
“I killed that man in the hunt,” I confess. “And it felt good.”
She takes a moment to absorb that, then says, “You killed him?” She says the words as if she can’t believe what she heard, as if repeating them back holds more meaning.
“You had an idea of what the hunt is, correct?” I say to her to pull her from her headspace.
“Well, yes. But for you to confirm it—” she says with wide eyes.
“Most of the people we hunt deserve it,” I assure her. “People like him.”
“And do you like it?” she asks.
“I do. And I will never stop.”
“I would never ask you to stop, Soren. I understand who you are, at least a part of you. I get that you have a dark side because I’ve seen it in the ring. But if this is going to work between us, you are never, and I repeat never, to bring this around my son. Even if I love you, I will leave you.”
“You love me?” I ask, surprised.
“Tell me you heard me.” She gives me a severe look.
“I heard you, and I would never expose Oliver to any of this. One thing you should know is how well I can keep secrets. You’ve been trying for years to find them.” I head to her closet, select a white dress, and place it on the bed.
“And to think, all I had to do was sleep with you in order for you to open up,” she jokes, then her gaze falls to the dress. “What’s that for?”
“Get dressed, Hurricane. The courthouse is open, and you and I are getting married.”
“Soren, I can’t.” She shakes her head.
“You can. And in a few months, we’ll have a bigger wedding, when your family accepts us.”
“They already do,” she says, setting her coffee down and then getting up from the bed.
“What do you mean?”
She grabs her phone, brings up her sister Izzy’s contact, and then shows me her text messages.
Izzy: Did you fuck him yet?