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)
Bored, I consider heading back inside, but when I lean forward, Enzo’s arm tightens around me, making it clear I won’t be excused. So, I set my mug and the berries down, settling farther into Enzo’s chest. Instantly, his hand slides along my thigh, rubbing small circles over the boho bottoms I slid on.
I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, I’m in his arms, being softly lowered into the chair on my own.
His eyes find mine. “I’ll be back.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if that means I’ll see him later, but then I remember he’s an asshole and pull away.
His gaze narrows, but he doesn’t comment on the change in my demeanor. “There are men at every front tower and eyes in the skies. Every fifteen yards holds a guard. You will not see them, but they’re there.”
“Are you issuing a warning or trying to be reassuring?”
He blinks in frustration. “What need do I have to warrant a warning?”
“The fact that I left you when I didn’t know you belonged to someone else and now, I do.”
He gets in my face, his tone now a threat of its own. “You didn’t leave me, Little Bride. You were taken from me by your father, a man I allowed to live against my better judgment.”
“I would have never come back here with you if you’d have killed him.”
“And how would you have known, hmm?” He gets in my face. “All you knew when you got here was what I told you. I could have killed him, and you’d have had no idea, but I didn’t. I didn’t because I knew if I had, and I wanted to, but if I had, you never would have forgiven me, even if his death would have been no one’s fault but his own.”
“If you would have killed him, it would be you who went down once the other district leaders learned you were the one who spit on our agreement first.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You agreed to marry me when you already had a wife, Enzo! That alone would make the contract null and void.”
His eyes flare with a fiery rage and he dips down, getting in my face. “If you think a little detail like that could have stopped me from getting what I wanted in the end, you are sorely mistaken, little girl.”
Little detail. Right. I refuse to react to his words, but rather sit back in the chair and stare up at him with a void expression. “And what is it that you wanted, Enzo? A woman to claim without being accused of incest?”
His features harden, his fists clenching.
I realize I’m being a brat, maybe even hardheaded, and he hasn’t exactly done anything wrong – well, today anyway. But it’s necessary. A man like him could walk all over me, use me, and lose me, so I have to stay on my toes. I can’t let his…whatever you want to call the soft shifts in his attitude, distract me.
It’s when you least expect it, the floor beneath you shakes, knocking you off-balance, and I’m hardly standing upright.
There’s a strain in my chest, one that tells me I’m reading things wrong, but I force a single brow to rise, looking at my wrist as if there’s a watch latched around it. “Better get going, dear, you wouldn’t want to be late for wherever it is you have to go.”
He pushes to his full height, pointing a long finger in my direction. “We will be discussing this when I get home, and stay the hell away from Katana. I’ll be damned if my wife befriends anyone in my house before she does me.” With that he whips around and leaves.
I wait several minutes to see if Grandma will return or not, but when she doesn’t, I decide I’m not going to waste this little bit of freedom.
I crank the music up obnoxiously loud and head toward the water, hoping like hell I can channel my inner Rocklin and let it wash all the bullshit away, if only for a little while.
I leave my shirt on but get rid of the pants and walk right into the chilled water. I walk until I can do a backbend and disappear beneath the surface altogether. I hold my breath for several long beats and when I resurface, I smile at the sun. I stay there, wading in the water until my fingertips are wrinkly before I finally step out, wrapping one of the giant fluffy towels around my waist.
The moment my feet slip inside my shoes, Grandma appears at the top of the stairs.
“Come,” she shouts, waits until I reach the foot of the stairs, and then spins on her heel, leaving me to catch up. When I do, she leads me down a completely different hall than the one that ends at my room, curving to the left and revealing a giant, black iron staircase. “There is an elevator through the hall if you need it.”