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)
Against all odds, she had feelings for the man who’d come into her father’s party, grabbed her not too gently by the arm, and all but dragged her from that awful life she had known.
Diago wasn’t her monster.
He was her savior.
She wanted him so badly.
Vanessa put a hand on her stomach and wondered if she was finally pregnant. She wasn’t a fool and knew they didn’t use protection, so there was a good chance she was pregnant.
Withdrawing her hand, she looked toward the door. She already planned to tell Diago she loved him, even if it made her look like a fool.
Love was … a feeling.
Diago made her feel, he made her excited, and happy, and she looked forward to seeing him every day. Even when he went to work. She’d never felt this way before. He didn’t look at her with pity or disgust. He saw her as a woman and treated her as such.
Also, he was really good in bed, and even though she knew that shouldn’t be a priority, she did kind of like the fact that they were so compatible with each other.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she looked toward the door and waited. He would be coming through that door any minute. She pressed her lips together. Why did it feel longer than usual? Vanessa didn’t even know if he was going to find her friend. She could only assume.
The door handle moved, and she got to her feet with the biggest smile on her face, only to freeze in place. Diago was covered in blood. His shirt was soaked, as well as his hands, and he paused as he looked toward her. There was no way that could be Maureen’s blood. He wouldn’t kill her best friend, her … mommy. Maureen had been more of a mom to her than her own.
“Diago?” she asked, rushing toward his side. “What happened?”
“I need to take a shower,” he said.
“Whose blood is this?” she asked, following Diago up to their shower. She didn’t hinder him, and they walked through his bedroom and headed straight toward the main bathroom.
He turned on the shower and looked toward her.
“What is it?” she asked. “What is going on?” She didn’t know how she could be asking so many questions when it felt like her whole world was being torn apart. Tears filled her eyes. “This isn’t Maureen.”
“No,” he said.
“What happened?”
“Maureen … is…”
“Don’t say it,” Vanessa said. “Please don’t say it.” She felt her tears begin to pool in her eyes, and there was a burning in the back of her throat she couldn’t deny.
This was a nightmare. It couldn’t be happening. No. She didn’t want to accept it.
Diago put his hands on her, and the blood had already dried, so it wasn’t transferring to her. She saw that, and looked at him.
“Maureen is dead,” he said.
She shook her head.
“Your father had her killed after she stopped being useful to him.”
Again, she shook her head, not wanting to hear this. No, this couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t fair. This was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from.
Diago was still talking, and she tuned in to listen.
“Maureen was a trafficked woman, and caught your father’s eye. What caught his eye was the fact she was beautiful, and she was a nanny. You were young and he wanted to find a woman he didn’t have to pay. Anyway, Maureen had a way of getting people to trust her, and your father used her, exploited her, and when she was no longer useful to him, he removed her from the equation.”
All along, Vanessa had known. She knew Maureen worked for her father, but she also knew her nanny had hated him. Maureen had never uttered those words, but she had known there was no love between her nanny and her father. It had always been a job—a contract.
Maureen had been fighting for her life, and Vanessa hadn’t known. She had only seen her nanny, her precious, lovable nanny and best friend, who she had been able to go to for everything. Maureen had never gone to her for anything.
Pain sliced through her body, and she couldn’t help but press a hand against her chest. This wasn’t fair. This was cruel.
She hated this feeling that consumed her.
She looked at Diago, at his bloodied hands and clothing, and stared into his eyes. “You killed my father?” she asked.
“Vanessa, your family is dead,” he said. “All of them are gone.”
Vanessa knew any normal person would find that scary. They would hate the man who had killed her parents, but she closed the distance between her and Diago and cupped his face.
He stared down at her, and she looked into his eyes. To so many people, she knew his gaze was one of death, of fear, of panic. So many people had died at his hand, but she didn’t care about any of that. Not right now. She cared about what he’d done for her, and she loved him even more in that moment.