Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
We finished the bottle of wine and devoured every piece of food on our plates. I always ordered her pasta dishes because they were top-notch. Wasn’t sure how she made them so good because she wouldn’t tell me how she did it. I bet she wouldn’t even tell Axel. That way, he would always be on her hook.
The waitress cleared the plates. “Dessert?”
“Sure,” Theo said. “Surprise us.”
The waitress left.
“I think I’ve seen you eat dessert like three times,” I teased.
“Axel told me Scarlett hired a new dessert chef, and I guess he’s a bit of a prodigy.”
“Oh, that’s interesting.”
“That’s all Axel ever talks about. It’s either Scarlett, his kids, personal shit I’d rather not hear, and the restaurant.”
“If that’s all that’s on his mind, then I’d say he’s living a good life.”
He nodded in agreement. “I’d say so.”
“Do you talk about me?” I asked.
“Of course I do.”
“I mean…the personal stuff.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as a smirk moved over his lips. “No.”
“It’s okay if you do—”
“I don’t.”
“Why not?”
“I just think some things are better left unsaid.”
“So you’ve never talked about women with him?”
“Occasionally. Usually the whores I fooled around with.”
“So, why them and not me?”
“You sound offended.”
“I guess I am a little offended.”
“You’re offended that I mentioned the women who meant nothing to me while I respect the woman I love?”
“I think it’s kinda cute that Axel brags about Scarlett so much.”
“Just because I don’t tell him how I fuck you doesn’t mean I don’t love you, Astrid.”
“I know. I don’t think Axel is being disrespectful. He’s just…bragging about how happy he is.”
“I show my love for you in other ways,” he said. “I guess I’m just old-fashioned.”
“Okay. Would it make you mad if I told Scarlett details?”
“No.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Really.”
“Good to know…because I’ve kinda already told her every little thing. Or should I say, every big thing.”
He smirked and almost chuckled. “That’s fine.”
“It’s not disrespectful to tell her how big your dick is?”
“It doesn’t bother me.”
“But you don’t want Axel to know—”
“I don’t want him to know anything, Astrid. Because you’re mine, only mine, and I don’t want another man having a glimpse of that—even Axel.”
I stared at him for a while, seeing the subtle hostility in his eyes. “I guess that’s kinda hot.”
He grabbed his glass and finished the rest of his wine.
The waitress came over with our desserts. But I noticed right away the difference between the two plates. Theo’s held a slice of chocolate cake that was dark against the white dish. And the other plate…had nothing on it except for a ring.
She placed them in front of us and silently walked away.
I continued to stare at the ring that had been set in front of me, a platinum band with a large diamond solitaire in the center. A diamond that was so substantial and distinct, it commanded the entire room the way the crown of a king commanded an army. Heat rushed through me, and then the adrenaline came next. My eyes stayed on the ring that was meant for me to take because I was frozen to the spot. I’d hoped Theo would ask me to marry him at some point, but I’d expected the question to come in another year or so. He didn’t seem like the kind of man in a rush to get married. If he never asked me, I wouldn’t leave him. Because being his girlfriend was better than being nothing.
I finally had the courage to look at him.
He stared back, his earlier smile gone.
I waited for him to ask, waited for him to confirm that this wasn’t some kind of unfortunate mix-up.
But he continued his hard stare.
“Um…” My hands rested on the table but still didn’t touch the ring. “Is this for me?”
“Yes.”
I waited for him to ask, but he still didn’t.
I looked at the ring again.
“I’m not going to ask you to be my wife.”
I immediately looked at him again.
“I’d rather tell you.”
Epilogue II
Theo
I adjusted the cuff links on my wrist, my eyes staring at the scar I had underneath. I remembered how I got each one, and this one had happened in a knife fight. Some asshole had tried to slash my wrists.
Without those scars, it would be easy to forget the life I used to live. Now, it was phone calls and meetings and numbers. Sometimes it felt like bullshit, but I would lose my mind if I stayed home all day. Or golfed. Or whatever the fuck retired pricks did.
“Damn, you look like a hot piece of ass, man.” Axel came up to me in his suit and tie.
“Thanks.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “Never thought this day would come.”
“Me neither.” I adjusted the other set of cuff links then slid my hands into my pockets.
Axel’s eyes shifted back and forth between mine. “You don’t seem happy.”
Too stressed to be happy. “It’s not Astrid.”