Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Oh, would you look at the time,” she says, gesturing at the grandfather clock. “Excuse me, but I must leave early.”
I wait for her to stand, and then we do the posh fake-kissing thing again. Once she’s gone, I sit at the table, grab a bread roll directly from the plate, and stuff it into my mouth. Then I drink some juice straight from the jug, not caring when some spills onto my shirt. It’s freeing not to have to care.
“Having fun?” Dario says from the doorway, making me jump.
I turn. “You’re way too sneaky for somebody so big.”
He smirks as he walks into the room. He’s wearing workout clothes. The sweat makes his shirt stick to his chest, showing the outline of his pecs. His biceps bulge, veins pressing against his skin like a beast waiting to bust free.
He sits down, taking a bread roll from the plate and biting from it, then tossing it on his plate. “Did you and Mother have an enjoyable breakfast?”
“She tried to pay me off,” I tell him matter-of-factly. “She basically said, without saying it, that she would give Aunt Rosa all the care she needed, and I didn’t have to marry you.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her you’ve already been generous enough. I told her I love you.”
His lip twitches in that annoyingly captivating way. Strange sensations pulse through my body. I press my legs together under the table, tension making certain parts of my body ache. I need to remember what Giulia said, making the phrase this is business my mantra.
“Good,” he says, nodding. “She came to say goodbye before she left. She seemed less suspicious of you.”
“That’s because I waited to start my feast until she’d gone.”
I see another lip twitch and feel a tremor in me. His cell phone rings before he can reply. “Excuse me. I have to take this.” When he answers the phone, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that his expression changes. It’s more like a dark shadow wraps around him. He looks ready to kill. Veins bulge all over his body. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Is something wrong?” I ask.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Then why did I ask?”
He stands up, and I do the same. He walks up to me, bringing his scent with him. That should gross me out. He’s sweaty and smelly, but it’s so him that it doesn’t somehow.
“Okay then,” he snaps. “Yesterday, I had a meeting with the leader of a rival mob. He said some nasty shit about you. I snapped. I got violent with him. I never do that. Now, as retaliation, he’s destroyed one of our charity centers.”
“Charity centers?” I mutter.
“That’s right. Not everything we do is evil, Elena. Paths of Promise has given a chance to countless kids who would’ve fallen into a life of crime otherwise. Go on; tell me that makes me a hypocrite.”
“That’s not my place.”
“You’re my fiancée. Everything is your place.”
He takes another step forward, staring right into my eyes, staring into me. It finally makes me realize what people mean when they use the phrase penetrating gaze.
“I wasn’t thinking that, anyway,” I tell him. “What are you going do to?”
“Bad things,” he grunts. “What I have to, but I didn’t come here to discuss this. We have a charity gala this evening. Get yourself ready.”
“What do I need to do?”
“Nothing. Someone will handle your outfit, makeup, and hair, but you should prepare mentally. Some of these people are even more judgmental than my parents.”
I force a smile onto my face. “Is that even possible?”
He grabs my shoulders. Not hard, but with enough intensity to send more confusing sensations through my body. “Careful. Even if they live with sticks up their asses, they’re still my parents. I wouldn’t make comments about your parents.”
“My parents died in a fire,” I whisper.
“Good. You’re sticking to your role.”
“No.” Why am I even telling him this? “That wasn’t part of my role. It was the truth. I just incorporated it. My parents and my little brother died when I was a kid. That’s why Aunt Rosa took me in. That’s why I can’t lose her.”
His touch tightens on me. My skin blazes under his palms. “It’s true?” When I nod, he leans even closer. His warm breath tickles over my skin. “Shit. I’m sorry, Elena.”
“It was almost ten years ago.”
“That doesn’t mean the pain stops.”
“I’ll give you that.”
As he leans even closer, tingles dance all over me, making me ache.
“At the party,” he says huskily, “we might have to kiss. We should try that now, so it’s not the first time.”
I swallow. Is he messing with me?
“Can I say no?” I ask.
“You can always say no,” he snaps. “Nobody’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
I stand up straighter. How he looks at me, with what seems like genuine attraction, makes me feel oddly powerful. “Then yes, let’s practice.”