Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Yes. I was so desperate to change the topic that I didn’t mind being shouted at.
“Yelling is hysterical and pointless. You deserve punishment, not a slap on the wrist.” With the tip of his knife, Zach tilted my chin up to meet his eyes. “Which brings me back to our deal.”
I swallowed hard, somewhere between pissed off and intrigued. I really ought to be scared of this man.
I didn’t know why I couldn’t bring myself to conjure that particular emotion. Maybe because he seemed too controlled to kill someone offhandedly.
Or maybe it was something else.
The way he held his knife almost reminded me of how my elderly neighbor clutched on to his walking cane. Or how the toddler across the street held on to her blankie.
As if he used it often. Casually. Like an accessory to help him with his daily tasks.
I pinched my lips together. “Aw, what will you do? Force me into marriage like that psychopath friend of yours?”
Everyone knew Romeo Costa had dragged his Southern belle wife down the aisle by the ear, kicking and screaming.
That they were now the most praised and admired couple in this zip code didn’t matter in the slightest.
Their origin story had forever seared into my brain.
How he’d locked her in that golden cage of his.
How she rattled the bars, bent them into the shape of his heart, and wore him down, chipping his exterior bit by bit until he was completely and undeniably hers.
A legend of a dark Romeo and a stubborn Juliet, the rumor mill whispered. A rewritten classic where everyone got their happy ending.
I wasn’t Dallas Costa, though.
If, by some wild stroke of disaster, Zach Sun forced me into marriage, I wouldn’t play the long game.
I’d probably stab him in his sleep with my épée.
Zach reared his head back, staring at me as if I’d hallucinated him. “No offense, Miss Ballantine, but I would sooner marry a wild coyote than you. At least the coyote would be exceptionally more pleasant to spend time with. Plus, if I feed it, I might have a chance at domesticating it.”
I smiled, making sure to flash my canines. “Careful. It might also kick your ass at Go.”
“Easy there, Little Octopus. I do recall you ran away from the game because you’d backed yourself into a trap.”
I could finish that game fine.
I’d replayed it in my head before bed every night since the soirée. The side effect of a stellar memory and an unhealthy obsession with victory.
I knew where each stone rested. Anticipated every move he could make. And most importantly, how I’d use them against him.
I narrowed my eyes, glancing at the clock on the wall behind him. “What do you want, then?”
I had lots of work to get to.
The leftover lasagna on the floor wasn’t going to clean itself, and at this rate, the Ahmadi family had every right to dock my pay for showing up late.
Zach took his time answering, standing before me in all his unapologetic, unreasonably attractive glory.
Hard, cold, and unrelenting.
A flawless sculpture abandoned before the varnish.
“You.”
My spine slammed against the wall. A bad time to realize he’d walked me back, step by step. Cornered me. Invaded my space without actually touching me. That was the thing. Zach never truly pierced my personal bubble. Not with his body, anyway.
Using the flat edge of his knife, he tilted my head to the side, toward the family room. I had a clear line of sight to my step-monsters. The level of precision with which Zachary Sun operated stunned me. He’d started steering me here ten minutes ago, aware of his goal while I’d rambled about souls.
Vera, Reggie, and Tabby stood in a tight circle, bickering with one another like three frenetic hens. So, they hadn’t eavesdropped. Too busy tossing the blame for what had happened between themselves.
“…looked at me like he was going to ask me out.” Tabby threw her hands in the air. Her Dior skirt rode up, revealing a generous stretch of her thighs. “What was I supposed to do?”
“…could swear he smiled at me when I told him the shoe is mine.” Reggie sniffed into a handkerchief, blowing her nose in decibels more suitable for a distressed elephant. “Also, is that my skirt? What made you think you could pull it off, Tabs?”
“Look at them,” Zach instructed, every ounce of him stone-cold. “These are the clowns holding you hostage. You live in an upside-down world, where the dog has the human on a leash.”
“Is your punishment to make me feel like shit?” I slapped the knife away from my face. “Because mission accomplished. Now, can you leave?”
“Not before I hire you to be my help, Help.”
The shock lasted only for one second. Followed by an urge to strangle him with my bare hands. But he didn’t deserve my emotions. So, instead, I offered him my defiance. I tilted my head back against the wall and pulled my lips in an empty smile. “Leave. Before I kill you. I won’t even need a weapon for that. Trust me.”