Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Aster choked over the fear that still rambled through her being. Trembles rocked her head to toe, the girl in shock.
If it was possible, I gathered her closer.
“Thank you,” I told him, barely able to get the words to cooperate.
“I have done awful things in his name, and I could no longer be a prisoner to his bidding. I needed out as badly as you, and for a long time, I’ve been looking for a way. But when I learned of what they intended? I knew there was a purpose that I was still here. That it was my duty to stop this from happening. My conscience cannot bear more innocent blood.”
“We’re going to have questions,” Trent muttered.
Oz almost smiled. “And I have answers.”
FORTY-EIGHT
ASTER
I gripped Logan’s hand where we stood in the hallway outside my father’s office door.
Logan sent me a gentle smile, and my heart fluttered in my chest.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I was.
I was so ready.
Ready to stand for myself.
Ready to stand for Logan.
Ready to stand for our family.
Still, my insides shivered as I glanced around.
Memories of this place echoed down the corridor.
The hope we’d had and the sorrow that we’d found.
For so long, we’d secreted ourselves away, hidden, our love nothing but a prayer and a whispered chance.
And today, that prayer would become our reality.
Even though my father expected us, Logan reached out and knocked on the wood.
“Come in,” was a muffled reverberation from the other side.
Logan opened the door, and together, we walked through, our hands held tight.
A promise to the other.
We were never letting go.
My father sat behind his desk, his expression cautious and somehow contrite.
My heart panged at the sight. Bitterness and hurt and the love I’d always held for a man who’d caused so many wrongs.
“Papa,” I couldn’t help but whisper, the long-used affection a rock in my throat.
“Please, come in and sit.” He gestured to the two leather chairs that sat across from his desk.
Tentatively, Logan and I moved that way and settled into the chairs, though our hands never loosened their bond.
“Mr. Costa.” Logan’s voice was hard.
“Logan.” My father sighed a disbelieving sound. “Much has happened since the last time we met.”
It seemed impossible that had only been four days ago when it almost felt like a lifetime removed.
It’d been a blur of torment. A day of terror.
But Logan—Logan had found his way back to me.
Just like for the rest of my life, I would always find my way back to him.
I would fight.
I would love.
I would cherish, and I would work for our joy and our peace.
But our days would no longer be counted as sacrifice.
It was an oath he and I had both made.
“You could say that.” Logan’s voice was strained.
I understood the animosity he felt sitting across from my father.
My father’s expression dimmed. “Jarek and that man Haille intended to overthrow me.”
Logan cleared his throat, glancing at me with all that adoration before he returned his attention to my father.
I’d asked him to provide the details so I could prepare myself for the rest.
“Yes,” he said, completely blunt. “Oz, Haille’s first guard, turned. He chose to protect your daughter over his loyalty to Mr. Manchief. He gave us everything he knows, plus there are plenty of condemning documents that were found at Jarek’s home here in LA.”
My papa lifted his chin. “And?”
Logan angled his head, ferocity coming off him. “They wanted the stones, Mr. Costa. They have always wanted the stones.”
My father hissed. He still didn’t even know of their fate. Had no idea both of them were currently sitting in the box that rested at mine and Logan’s feet.
All thanks to my sister who had seduced a biker.
“That night seven years ago, it was a setup,” Logan continued. “Haille and Jarek had made an alliance. Haille knew of Jarek’s standing in the family, and apparently Haille had made the greedy asshole an offer he couldn’t resist. Jarek was charged with securing both stones, and once he presented them to Haille, he was promised all of Los Angeles. Haille’s men were also promised to Jarek, that they would come here and end the Costa reign. Jarek wanted power and he wanted Aster, and he didn’t want to wait for it. Besides, he believed Haille more powerful than you.”
It was a straight shot to my father because it was true.
Haille would have destroyed him and this entire family.
But it’d all been put on hold when Logan had disappeared.
“That night, one of Jarek’s men came to make it look like a regular heist, but you had sent me, and things didn’t go exactly as planned. I tried to stop the thief, but the man ended up shooting Antonio. The assailant managed to get away with one stone. My gut told me it was all a setup, so when Jarek went for the second stone, I grabbed it. He was going to shoot me, so I shot him first.”