Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
God, I wonder what Killian must think of me after that?
Realizing I’ve been in here just a moment too long, I turn off the water and grab a fresh paper towel to dry my hands. The last thing I need is Killian sending a search party in the form of Sergiu. Fuck, I don’t even want to imagine what that asshole would try to do to me if he got me alone again. Hell, the bruises are only just starting to truly fade, and to be honest, I thought I’d gotten away with it without Killian noticing, but apparently, I’m not as clever as I thought.
The bathroom door opens, and I plaster a smile across my face as a few women saunter into the small space, doing my best to appear graceful and deserving of being the woman who stands at Killian’s side.
When they don’t make their way toward the stalls and gather behind me instead, I lift my head as a wave of nerves settles deep in my stomach. There are four of them, each one just as beautiful as the last, but I don’t dare underestimate them. I know women . . . mostly. And this is the furthest from a friendly introduction to welcome me to the family. These bitches are looking for blood.
The words Killian uttered to me just moments ago flash through my head—How you respond will determine the kind of strength you possess. They’d sounded so graceful coming out of his mouth, but now, just moments away from having that strength put to the test, it doesn’t seem so motivating.
Fuck. It sounds downright terrifying.
These aren’t the kind of women I’m used to dealing with in the bars I’ve worked at or the mean bitches from school who look down on you for not having a life worthy of their upper-class tastes. These women are on a whole new level, and I don’t know if I’m ready for it.
The woman who stands closest holds my stare through the mirror, and I immediately recognize her as Sergiu’s wife, but her name doesn’t appear inside my head. Letting out a heavy breath, I turn to face her while doing what I can to hide my shaking hands. “Let’s just get this over and done with so we can get back to the party,” I say, not ready to be some pushover despite the fear rocketing through my chest.
“You don’t belong here,” she says.
An unladylike scoff tears from the back of my throat, and I instantly regret the laugh that booms in her face. “Are you serious right now?” I ask dumbfounded. “That’s what you came in here to intimidate me with? That I don’t belong? Wow. Are you trying to point out the obvious? I could have told you that.”
“Oh my God,” one of the other women says, arching her brow in disbelief. “She thinks she’s better than us.”
Fucking hell. This really isn’t going to go well.
“I never said that,” I throw back at her, fixing her with a stare that would have made my ex wet his pants, though somehow I doubt it would even make Killian flinch. “However, I’m not the one ganging up with her little friends trying to corner some woman in a bathroom, so take what you want from that.”
The woman sneers at me, but Sergiu’s wife takes the lead once again. “My husband has told me all about you, all about the whorehouse Killian took you from. You’re nothing but a whore made to cater on the mattress of greater men. You’re no wife, and soon enough, Killian will see that, and you’ll be handed around like the common whore that you are. Forgotten and discarded.”
“If that’s so, why are you so pressed about it?” I challenge. “If I’m just some whore who’ll be tossed aside when the next best thing comes along, why bother putting on this little show at all? It doesn’t make sense. Unless you’re threatened, of course.”
“Threatened?” she scoffs in disgust. “Of you? I hardly think so.”
“Right,” I say with a devilish smirk that clearly grates on her nerves if her sneer is anything to judge by. “Well, here’s the thing. Just because I don’t believe I belong here, doesn’t mean Killian agrees, and as long as he’s willing to hold on to me as the woman who shares his bed and his name, then I’m willing to stick around. I’m not going anywhere, but what does it even matter to you? You have your own husband to worry about. My marriage to Killian has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me,” she spits in a rage. “I haven’t put in all these years, putting up with the wild abuse from my husband and loitering in Killian’s shadow just for some tramp like you to come along and snatch it out from beneath me. The moment you give him an heir, my husband is one step further from taking that damn crown and I won’t allow it to happen, no matter what I have to do.”