Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Enzo’s glare doubles and he scoffs, backing up a step. His large hand comes up, fingers running through and messing up his hair as he paces back and forth twice, three times, only to get right back in my space. His jaw is set in stone, teeth clenched as he hisses in my face. “I will make your life miserable.”
“You’re off to a good start, congratulations,” I deadpan.
His eyes crinkle at the edges. “If you’re going to speak, you will answer my questions.”
“I asked mine first. How did you know?”
“I made it my business to know. Now your turn.”
“That’s not an answer!”
“I hired someone to find any and all things related to you. It wasn’t fucking hard considering the asshole wasn’t exactly quiet about his desire for you. Now answer mine.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
“You asked a lot.”
“Woman, I swear to you…”
“Which one is the most important?”
“Why is your ring off your finger?”
“Because I took it off.”
His pulse tics in his jaw. “When?”
“When I got changed.”
A slight narrowing of the eyes tells me he was expecting a different answer.
“So not at the event?”
“I said when I got changed.”
He cocks his head, probably wondering if he can believe me or not. If he’s as smart as I think he is, he wouldn’t.
I’m not above a good lie.
“How did you find out about Philip’s offer?” He watches me closely as he asks this.
“It’s really not as interesting a story as you seem to think.”
“Boston.”
I contemplate letting his stress mount a little longer, but the murderous look in his eyes is brimming with something deeper. Something I can’t quite read but feel the need to smother.
“Gorgio insinuated to a deal being on the table, and I remembered what you said. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
He studies me. “And you didn’t speak of it with him?”
Not sure which him he’s referring to, so I say, “I asked my father why he never told me.”
“And?”
“He said it was irrelevant.”
“And?” he pushes.
“And I disagree,” I answer honestly. “I deserved to know.”
“You want me to believe you just so happened to take your ring off when you got home after learning what you did tonight?”
“I don’t care what you believe, Enzo. Your thoughts mean exactly jack shit to me.”
Enzo’s jaw tics, his fists clenching at his sides. He continues to stare straight into my eyes, this fiery force in his I can’t quite read, one that seems to demand I put his mind at ease when really, I want to shove his tie in his mouth and watch him choke on it.
“I can’t wear a ring when I dance.”
“That’s not going to work for me.”
“That’s a you problem that needs fixing.” I throw his words back at him. “As much as you clearly plan to control me, you can’t make me wear the damn ring when you’re not around.”
“I can and I will. Why?” He pushes closer. “Because you are mine and every second of every day, there will be a reminder of that fact staring back at you,” he promises.
I close my eyes, wanting to scream and cry and tear his eyes out.
Revenaws aren’t supposed to cry, not even at our mother’s funeral when we were eight years old.
My mother was murdered.
I flinch when a warm palm meets my cheek, my lids flying open.
His hazel eyes lock on mine. “You came to me and asked me to marry you.”
“As if I could forget.”
“I did what you asked.” He frowns. “Gave you what you said you wanted.”
“Thanks?” When he simply stares, I lift a shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I answered your questions. The interrogation is over, so why are you still standing here? What else do you want?”
“I want you to act like the girl I met that day on the island.”
A small scowl builds across my face, his words unexpected.
“She was determined to stand where you do,” he adds.
“She was a desperate daughter looking for a secure future she could control so down the line she wasn’t stuck with a third-rate asshole,” I counter.
“Third rate?” he muses, anger and…is that disappointment in his gaze? “Was I not your first choice, Little Bride?”
“No.”
His muscles freeze. “No?”
“No, Enzo.” I shake my head. “You weren’t my first choice.” His glare is heavy, deepening as my lips curve with a pitiful smile born of shame and an unshakable sense of regret. “You were my only choice.”
Something sweeps over Enzo then, his gaze piercing mine. “What if I said the same?”
“You’d be lying.”
“Says you.”
“Says the dark-haired girl who sleeps down the hall.”
Chapter
Fourteen
Boston
I wake to the piercing sound of the alarm, red lights sweeping over the dark balcony I fell asleep on. I jump up, running into the room and grabbing the heel I shoved under the pillow for an emergency just like this. I dash for the door, flattening myself against the wall behind it, and take steady breaths like my training taught me.