Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Diago is a monster. He is the villain in most stories. He kills without mercy.
The night he saved Vanessa, something happened, something changed. She was the first person to seek comfort in him, and now, he knows she is at risk of being sold to the highest bidder, as her father needs money.
No one will fight him. Everyone is afraid of him. So he takes Vanessa for his own.
Weds her. Beds her. Makes her all his.
But her family is going to die. He intends to kill her father for the sins he’s committed. He doesn’t care if Vanessa wants him to or not.
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Chapter One
The moment Diago walked into the party, everyone suddenly tensed up. It wasn’t unheard of for Diago to randomly stop by. Vanessa Norma knew most of the time when he would arrive, and many people feared him. The man was cruel; in fact, many considered him evil to the core.
She’d never had many dealings with him, but she knew her father wasn’t a big fan of his, although she didn’t know why. She wasn’t allowed to know why. As a woman, her only job was to be quiet and look pretty. There was a time she was considered pretty, but the scar down the left side of her face, which she’d gotten during her kidnapping several years ago, had left her less than attractive.
Glancing toward her father, she knew he was beside himself because there were no marriage proposals. He’d tried to make multiple deals with other prospective family members, but to no avail.
Many within their circle considered her a lovely woman. Kind, gentle. Again, not traits often seen in a female from a mafia family, but she had acquired them. She figured it was due to spending most of her time with a nanny who was taken from her once she turned eighteen.
All her memories were of sweet Maureen, her nanny, who was only eighteen years older than her, but Vanessa didn’t have a clue where her nanny was or what she was doing. No one would tell her anything. She had tried to do some searching, but so far to no avail.
She had even started using these random parties to ask the women questions. Most nannies moved around within the family. No one knew where Maureen had gone, and it was starting to test her patience.
The party had grown silent as Diago walked right into the middle of it, but there was no stopping him, as he went straight up to the cabinet that held the drinks. He didn’t say hello to anyone, didn’t even smile. He picked up the expensive bottle of whiskey, poured plenty into his glass, and then drank it up. Vanessa couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer force of him.
No one listened to her, not even her brother. Her father had started to beg families to consider taking her as a wife. She’d learned to sneak around when she was little, so listening in on conversations wasn’t hard to do. Her father wanted to marry her off, to extend his family, to create more wealth. The only problem was, no one wanted her. They complained about her scar, or her weight, or the fact they didn’t think she was ready. The best excuse being that she was damaged goods because she had gotten kidnapped.
Again, being kidnapped at eighteen hadn’t been her fault. That had been down to her father and the guards they had placed on her. She’d been granted one guard, and he had sent her out shopping because he wanted her away from him.
His enemies had known he would be weak, so they had used it against him, which is why they were here now. She had a scar, and no prospects.
There had been a time when she had loved her father. He had seemed like the most amazing man in the world. In the last seven years, as she had aged and others around her had gotten married, he’d changed. No longer did she see him as a good father, but cold.
She couldn’t help feeling a little joyful in seeing him squirm with Diago in the room. In fact, Vanessa wanted to laugh with glee at just how uncomfortable most of the men in the room were. They were all afraid of this one man.
But then, Diago didn’t hide who he was behind pristine designer business suits and false smiles. The few occasions she had seen him, he always wore a scowl; in fact, he rarely spoke. That had always fascinated her, because in her experience, most men loved to hear their own voice.
Vanessa stood in her small alcove taking it all in. She held a small glass of water in her hand. Most of the time, at parties, she was alone. Her mother would stand with her from time to time, but she would always find an excuse to leave her alone.
How the scar changed everything.
There was a time her mother would interrupt her and Maureen, while she was still around, to start talking about parties and fashion, and attempt to do the mother-daughter bonding. It had all been a lie. Her parents had been trying to prepare to send her off into married life. She’d seen through it all.
Maureen had advised that she not be so cynical. After her kidnapping and subsequent scar, they had gotten rid of Maureen. Her only hope was that they didn’t kill her. She had no idea how Maureen ended up working as a nanny for the Norma family, but Vanessa hoped and prayed it hadn’t ended with her death. Maureen didn’t deserve that.