Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I didn’t like the way everyone seemed to think that Marcus Ravelli could only hurt me, didn’t like the way I was being warned not to get my hopes up about Marcus. I knew Willem didn’t mean to make me feel unattractive and worthless, but right now that was how I felt.
Was it so preposterous that someone like Marcus Ravelli could be attracted to me?
My phone beeped, and I stared at it for a long time, wondering if I should just delete Marcus’ message without reading it.
My phone beeped again, and I gave up resisting.
Marcus: I know you deserve better from me. I know you deserve better THAN me. But I’m too selfish, bambina. I want you to be happy with me. If I’m honest, I want you to be happy only with me.
My lips twisted in a bittersweet smile at Marcus’ message. Oh, how good he was with words, incredibly so.
Marcus: Tell me you understand, bambina.
Anneke: There wasn’t anything you said that wasn’t true.
My phone beeped again, and another text message from Marcus arrived at my inbox.
Marcus: Can we meet somewhere private?
I bit my lip.
Say no. Don’t answer. Avoid temptation.
All sensible things to do, and any of them would have made Willem proud. All of them were guaranteed to save me from future heartache.
If only for one thing—-
This one and only thing that Willem had miscalculated—-
It was already too late for me.
Anneke: My bedroom’s private enough.
One minute passed, and I shakily put my phone down on the table.
Five minutes went by, and I forced myself through the motions of preparing for bed. I took a quick shower, changed into my old pajamas, and when half an hour had gone by and I was seriously contemplating banging my head against the wall, I heard the doorknob turn.
Crap. My heart started thumping. What have I done?
But it was too late to second-guess myself.
Marcus Ravelli closed the door quietly behind him, and I swallowed hard as I watched him, feeling almost hysterical at the way his presence made my room feel smaller and warmer in an instant.
He turned to face me. “Mi dispiace,” he said thickly. “I was in the shower when you texted, and I came as soon as I could.” His gaze ran over me. Owned me. Ravished me.
And I couldn’t help doing the same.
Even though the sight of his wet hair felt too intimate-—
Stop staring!
Even though the way his thin shirt revealed the sculpted outline of his chest felt too erotic—-
Oh my God, Anneke, stop staring!
But my foolish eyes kept moving...and moving...and moving...until I reached my downfall.
Oh.
The rigid shape of his erection made a well-defined bulge behind his loose gray pants—-
My gaze jerked up to his, and Marcus’ lips formed a crooked smile. “Is that enough proof?”
My lips parted. Oh, he knew! He knew exactly why I wanted us to meet here.
“I’ve never felt the urge to be rebellious before,” I admitted unevenly, shamefully. “I’ve always known that Willem has done his best for us.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong, bambina.” Marcus’ tone was quiet. “He misread the situation.”
I choked back a nervous laugh. “Misread?” What a tame word that was!
But Marcus only shrugged. “He may have known me longer, but he doesn’t know me the way you know me.” He stepped forward. “He’s never seen what I’ve let you seen—-”
“And what is that?” I heard myself whisper.
His lips twisted. “You really want me to say it out loud, bambini?”
Yes. But I could only look at him, knowing he could read my answer in my eyes.
A look of strain fell over Marcus’ gorgeous face.
And my throat started to itch.
His eyes narrowed.
It felt so parched and dry; my throat was just begging me to do something—-
“Don’t push me,” Marcus hissed under his breath.
But it was too late.
A new dark side seemed to have taken over my body. Good-girl Anneke was gone.
And replacing her was a bad, bad girl—-
A bad girl who wanted to do things that she wasn’t supposed to do, feel things she wasn’t supposed to feel—-
A bad girl who liked licking her lips—-
My tongue darted out, outlining my lips, and Marcus cursed. It was in Italian, but I didn’t have to speak his language to know when he was swearing.
“Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” he demanded under his breath.
“I beg your pardon.” The words came out by default, but we both knew I didn’t really feel sorry.
If anything, I felt like I was in the brink of coming alive—-
My alter ego about to free herself from its cage—-
And so with Marcus still staring at me, I did it again.
Slowly, carefully, deliberately—-
My tongue wetting my lips—-
His nostrils flared. “You’re playing a dangerous game, bambina.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I know.” And now, I could barely hear my own words with the way my heart was thudding so hard against my chest.