AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bastian wasn’t always a Salvatore. Before his parents were killed in a plane crash, he was Bastian Kincaid and lived with Fitzy before getting adopted by Arlo Salvatore. His childhood best friend Damian Townsend was also part of the deal and was now a Salvatore, too. Though, you would never know the Salvatore brothers were not blood-related. Only Marcello and Luca.
Grace met her cousin when she was younger. But they never had much contact, and Fitzy wanted it that way. Probably because he feared them conspiring against him. Maybe one day they could have a real relationship.
A ringing sound pierced the silence in the room. With a groan, Luca reached under his robe and removed his cell phone from his pocket.
“Time to go,” he said to his brothers. “Alex is awake and looking for us.”
Luca was a psychopath. He probably had a tracking device on her ankle.
“What about Grace?” I asked him before he adjourned the meeting.
He yanked off the robe and flung it onto the throne. “What about her? Do you think I give a damn about the terrorist’s daughter? The Lucaya Group can have her.”
“But you swore to The Founders,” I shot back. “We all did. Are you seriously okay with them hurting Grace?”
“Do your job, Marshall.” Luca stepped off the dais and leveled me with a cold stare. “Until my family gets admitted into The Founders Society, we will keep her alive.”
“And after that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t care what happens to her.”
“Well, I do,” Bastian cut in. “Grace is my only relative who isn’t a piece of shit.” He shoved a hand through his brown hair, glaring at Luca. “If anything happens to her, we’ll have a fucking problem,brother.”
Luca rolled his eyes. “Don’t let her die, Marshall. That’s your only order.” He waved his hand at the group. “All of you are dismissed.”
ChapterEight
GRACE
The summer disappeared in a blink. Before I came to Fort Marshall, most days passed at a snail’s pace. Because until the start of the summer, I didn’t have a life. I had nothing to look forward to.
Now, I had a friend who would do anything for me. Even kill my enemies. And tonight, he pulled out all the stops by transforming the game room into a blanket fort.
We collected every available pillow and blanket in the house, stringing sheets up from the ceiling to create a small town. A place only inhabited by us. Our tent was the size of my bedroom, the floor carpeted with comforters and pillows. Before dimming the lights, Cole even hung fairy lights to create the perfect ambiance.
Cole dropped to the floor beside me on the blanket with a notepad and pen in hand. He donned a mischievous smile that made me instantly suspicious. “So, I was thinking…”
“Oh, don’t go doing that,” I quipped. “You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.”
He curled his arm around me and laughed, rubbing his knuckles on my head. “She’s got jokes, ladies and gentlemen. Since when did my shy girl get so cocky?”
My shy girl?
My heart fluttered with him this close. We spent every day together, but whenever Cole felt the spark of attraction blossoming between us, he always pulled away.
“I’m notthatshy,” I said in my defense. “It’s taking me a little longer to crawl out of my shell.”
“I like this side of you, Grace. You shouldn’t be afraid of who you are.” Cole slid the notepad in front of me. “So I was thinking about everything you haven’t done yet.” He handed me the pen, smiling with his big, blue eyes that lit up his handsome face. “It’s time for you to make a bucket list. Write down everything. We’ll cross off the things we’ve already done and work on checking off new experiences. This way, when you return home with the Colonel, you’ll be reminded of this summer.”
My heart ached at his last statement. I missed my dad but would miss the late nights watching movies with Cole, drinking by the pool, and Friday game night. I would cherish those moments.
I took the pen from his hand, tears stinging my bottom lids, forcing me to turn my head. “I don’t want this summer to end.”
“Me neither, Grace. But we only have a month left. So let’s try to enjoy the time we got.” He tipped his head at the paper. “Write down everything that comes to mind.”
I thought about everything we’d done and scribbled them onto the pad.
Drink my first beer
