Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
I don’t know what it is about Viper, but he’s not wrong.
I hated dominance in any other man.
With him I crave it.
It’s the very air I breathe, the fire in my soul, the touch I crave.
Viper chuckles deeply. "There is one more thing I've done. For both you and Allegra."
Good God, there's no telling what else he's done. "What is it?"
"I bought an apartment for you both. That way you're not stuck in my house, and you can have your own space if you ever need it. But it’s here in town so you’ll have a bit of a drive to get to Desire House." Desire House is on the outskirts of town.
I shake my head, "Viper, you're doing too much. More than you should be."
"You're not going to tell me what I can and can't do, little girl."
Viper walks around the tattoo parlor, showing me the ways he went above and beyond my wildest dreams.
"You thought of everything," I murmur, completely blown away.
"Mmm, I tried. But…there's something I want to do."
"Break the place in?" I joke, half serious.
A deep laugh comes from the pit of his stomach.
It's the first time I've heard a humorous laugh come out of him, and I like it.
"I'm going to tattoo you."
I blink at him for a moment, knowing I'll let this man do whatever he damn well wants to me.
CHAPTER TEN
Viper
I'm waiting in the limousine for Iris to climb in to take her Christmas shopping.
My eyes are trained on her, and I'm ready to take her.
God, she looks damn good today.
"Hey, baby," she whispers as she gets in.
"Hello, gorgeous. You look beautiful," I hiss, grabbing her hand.
"Thank you. Where are we going?"
"Shopping."
"Christmas shopping?"
"Yeah. Do you want to pick some presents out for everyone? My treat."
"Viper." She smiles. "Thank you. But I don't need you to buy anything. You've done more than enough with Ashton Ink. Besides, we're going to be at each other's houses in a few days. We'll have a present swap then."
"I don't care. You're buying something," I insist. "For me to look at, and for someone else."
"Okay, okay. Well, I guess you can buy something for me, too."
"Deal."
"Wait, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. Close your eyes."
"Are you serious?"
"Deadly."
"Okay." She closes her eyes, and our driver proceeds to take us to the mall. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."
"Where are we?"
"The mall." I grin. "But not just any mall. The biggest and best in the whole damn country."
"Really?"
"Yep. Get ready to do some serious shopping," I mutter as I help her out of the limo.
"I haven't done this for a while," she confesses, and her eyes widen when she sees the inside of the mall. "Holy shit, this is beautiful."
"It's gorgeous," I whisper, but my gaze is on her.
She points to a shop. "I want to start here."
"Lead the way."
"You don't have to come with me."
"I want to," I assure her. "Now, go on."
She walks into the shop and picks up a few things. "So, who are these for?"
"Oh, some girls in the house," she mutters, showing off a Louis Vuitton handbag.
"Nice." I nod. "And how much do they like you?"
"Oh, they're going to love this. But they'd die for one of these."
"I think they're cute."
"Yeah." She nods. "You don't have to be a part of this."
"No," I hiss. "I'm enjoying this. You're shopping, and I get to spend time with you. It's perfect."
"Perfect," she says, blowing me a kiss. "This is for Rosa. These first ones are easy. Finding one for Allegra will be hard."
Fuck.
I stiffen at the mention of my daughter.
She's not ready to know, and I'm not ready for her to.
At least, not yet.
"Why's that?"
"She's really picky. And I want to get her something good. Something special. Something unique."
"That's a tall order." I nod. "But I'm sure you can find something."
"I'm not so sure," she sighs. "It's hard."
"Why is that?"
"Because Allegra means the world to me. She's my best friend. She's so much fun, and she's smart. And she's everything. So, I don't know what to get her. Nothing will be good enough. And with what the two of us are doing… I feel like it needs to be extra special. She might kill me when she finds out, Viper."
"Well, that's not true," I mutter.
"No, it is. And now, I'm starting to stress out about it. Maybe we should have had a secret Santa, it would make all this shopping way less stressful."
"You'll find something, I'm sure. And you'll feel like it's right, trust me."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because Allegra's not hard to please. Just find something you like, and you'll be fine."
I find myself saying that, yet my relationship with my daughter is hardly the best.
Who knows, maybe I've bought her things and she's hated them every single time.
If she has, she never said anything to me.