Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
She put the kettle on the stove and then glared at him. “He hasn’t done anything to me, okay? Not a damn thing. We’re … nothing.” She shrugged.
David stared at her for a few moments, and then frowned. “Nothing?”
She nodded and threw her hands up in the air. “We might as well just be existing together, because we have nothing in common. We don’t talk or share meals. We’re nothing like our grandparents. We’re the complete opposite.”
“Tillie, I know you wanted to find a man and have that kind of connection like Grandma and Grandpa, but what they had was very rare.”
“I know that. You know I know that, but I … for as long as I remember, I … ugh, it was what I always wanted and I know that is insane.” She sighed. “Forget about it. I’m just being stupid.”
“Our grandparents had a love match, Tillie. You and Luca … it was a business deal.”
“I know. I was there.”
In order to keep the company together, Tillie had to marry Luca. It had been drawn up in a contract, signed, sealed, and married. It was so not romantic.
“What do you want?” David asked.
Tillie put the mugs down on the counter and turned to look at her brother. “What does it matter what I want?”
“Because it is important. You’re married to him and last time I checked, that deal has no expiration date. You’re in this for life, or unless you both agree to a divorce.”
“I don’t want it to be like this for eternity.” She wasn’t going to admit to her brother but she wanted passion, love, sex, she wanted to go on an adventure with her husband that they both could enjoy.
“Then I guess what you need to understand, Tillie, is that you’ll have to be the one to pull you both out of this.”
Tillie blew out a breath and shook her head. “I don’t have a clue how to do that. I mean, it’s Luca Winters, multibillionaire, a guy totally out of my league, and it was insane that he wanted to marry me in the first place.”
“Then you need to understand that that is exactly what Luca did,” David said.
“What?”
“He married you. That is what he wanted from you, and yet we know he has dated models, actresses, and a mass of beautiful women.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, David. You fill me with confidence.”
“It should, because of all those women, none of them held his attention for longer than a couple of dates. He is still married to you, and he wears a ring on his finger. No other woman has caught his eye. He’s not cheating on you because that kind of crazy shit would be in the news.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. Cheating. She hadn’t even thought of that.
“So, I guess, Tillie, if you want to have what our grandparents had, then go and fight for it. Luca could be the right man for you, and you the right woman for him.”
Chapter Three
Luca was not in a happy mood. Uncle Ed had paid him a visit, and had wanted to try and work out some kind of deal that meant he got to keep the money he’d been stealing from his brother.
It wasn’t going to happen. The Goodwin’s only error as far as he could see was hiring Uncle Ed. The bastard had attempted to cover his tracks using distraction techniques and his family connections to get away with it for so long. Before he could outright take the money and run, Luca made sure that money was returned to the company, or at least what was left of it.
Uncle Ed had worked to destroy the company that had given him a good lifestyle. Today he had to listen to the man’s excuses, lies, and then attempts to blackmail as well as threaten him. Luca wasn’t easily manipulated, nor would he ever be.
It annoyed him. Actually, no, it pissed him off. The stupid asshole had worked to exploit his own family, and now he wanted to try and make everyone feel guilty for it. If these manipulations persisted, he would involve the law, it was as simple as that.
Running his fingers through his hair, he sat at his desk at home and felt the temptation to pick up his cell phone and watch Tillie on the cameras.
Ever since he had gotten her to dance for him, he’d kept his distance. Luca wasn’t used to these feelings. He was a man who was known to take control, who got what he wanted without any questions asked.
On their wedding night, he’d been the dominant one, telling her what to do, and then the moment he thrust balls-deep inside her tight cunt, he’d felt that thin barrier give, and then the sounds of her pain. He hadn’t been prepared for Tillie’s virginity. And now, it was making him keep his distance, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.