Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
My wife.
My wife naked.
My wife naked in bed with another man.
My wife with Damian during intimate acts, and attached is a list of all the websites these photos currently reside on.
“Who put these up?” I growl, my skin heating and my mind becoming nothing but fog. The only thing I can see clearly is revenge.
Bloody fucking revenge.
“Damian Rafael, sir. He’s in the warehouse as we speak.”
I stand, and my chair flies backward, slamming into the window so hard I’m truly surprised it didn't shatter or even crack. I want to tear him apart. Remove each finger one by fucking one. And then when I’m done with that, I will cut his throat.
I will do all this with Emelia watching. I want her close enough the blood will splatter her clothes.
“Go ahead. Emelia and I will be there shortly.”
I make my way to the bedroom. That's where I find her in just a towel, preparing her clothes for bed.
“Get dressed. We have plans.” I leave the room, and she frantically calls after me, but I ignore her.
“Nico! Where are we going? It's late!”
That's the last thing I hear before everything goes silent. I only see red.
CHAPTER TEN
EMELIA
I'm left there alone in the shower after Nico took one himself, standing beneath the water in my nakedness with my wayward thoughts. Confused, hurt, and worried.
Tonight, I chose Nico over my father, and while I know what that will cost me, I had no idea he was using me just like my father was. They both wanted me as some sort of chess piece in their match. Before tonight, Nico never let on that he wanted me to be the demise of my father. It was always “be strong,” “be the wife of a mafia boss,” and “don’t show weakness,” but never anything about taking down my father.
I was always supposed to be Nico’s downfall.
What was I supposed to do though?
After what my father did to me, I reclaimed my power in the most monumental way.
And then I was overtaken by lust.
I was filled with pride for taking my life back from my father, but I know the adrenaline-fueled lust is fleeting—because it already is.
Plus, my father will come after me, or worse, he’ll tell Nico the truth about why I married him.
Then, tonight. The look. God, the look in Nico’s eyes while he took me to places and showed me things only he can was beyond maddening. It was almost like he felt a closeness with me that he has never had with anyone else. There was… vulnerability… and dare I say genuine care for me and not just what my body can offer or what being his enemy’s daughter could do for him. I was something to him.
But I read it wrong—all of it. I was seeing what I wanted to see.
Am I falling for Nico? No. No way. I don’t know him. We don’t know one another. But I do care for him. I think. I have to, right? Especially after tonight.
Now, I’m naked and feel ashamed of what we just did. We ride this high, we have sex, and it’s an out-of-this-world, untouchable type of sex, then it turns dark. You can’t see the spark anymore, like a blue flame. It’s difficult to see, but you feel the burn. Even when I attempted to make conversation to see if he would let me in more, he shut me out almost immediately.
There are snippets of him I see, and that’s when I try to get in, but before tonight, it was always in the form of banter, mocking, or bickering. Tonight, there was hope of white flags truly rising and the laying down of armor, but then he built that wall back up.
And this time, regretfully, it hurts me. It doesn’t cause me anger. I feel… sad. Why can’t we just get to know one another? Talk and connect like we do when flesh meets flesh and the sensitive skin becomes a tender thing we treat delicately? Why can’t our words be delicate too?
Who am I kidding? Nico could never. He is a killer. A boss. A ruthless man who has no regard for life except for what it can offer him. And tonight, I choose not to be angry. In fact, it’s like looking into a mirror. Nico was made to be cruel and filled with hate. Just like I was made to think I was nothing to anyone. We are both heirs of the mafia life. There is no escape. You either embrace it or run from it, and we both only had one option. I can’t blame him for how hardened he’s become because of the only life we’ve ever known.
The devil in a power suit is just a naked man with scars no one can heal. Not even me. Who even is he? I’ll never know. Because Nico will give me the cover but nothing under the surface.