Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Marco, you’re hurting me,” she whispers.
“What the fuck do you think you’ve been doing to me the last three weeks? Don’t feed me some bullshit about setting me free. I told you when I claimed you that you were mine. I was not fucking around. You aren’t getting away from me Ena.”
“I’m an adult, not property, Marco.”
“You’re an adult?” I ask with a bitter laugh.
“Yes, I am and I’m not ready to get married.”
“You’re not an adult.”
“I am!” she snaps.
“You’re a spoiled little princess who heard to men talking out of their ass and ran away instead of coming to your man talking to him like a fucking adult.”
Helena pales while trying to pull away from me. I let go of her hand and allow her a little distance—but not much. She’s not getting the chance to run.
“Fine. I should have spoken with you about what I heard,” she says rubbing her wrist where I was holding her.
“You think?” I bark.
“That’s not why I didn’t come back when my father told me you wanted to see me, though.”
“Oh really? Why in the hell didn’t you, then? Don’t try to tell me it was because you weren’t happy, Ena. I know better. You and I were solid. What we had was good.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t good. It was. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“I want more, Marco. I want what you can’t give me.”
“What do you want? It’s yours, but you can’t run away every fucking time things try to push in on what we have together, Ena. You fight for a relationship, what you don’t fucking do is run away.”
“You can’t give me, what you don’t have, Marco.”
“What don’t I have?”
“I thought I could forget, but I can’t. All through our engagement, until recently, I wasn’t much more than an afterthought. I thought I could ignore how that made me feel, but hearing your brothers talk about me, brought it all back.”
“My brothers don’t know shit, Ena. They don’t know me.”
“It doesn’t matter what they said, Marco. The truth is, I can’t forget how you did me for years—”
“I told you the reason why,” I huff out, trying to rein in my anger, but doing a piss-poor job of it.
“You did and I get it, but that day on the plane was the worst day in my life. I needed you and you couldn’t be there for me.”
“It’s the past, Helena. You can’t say I haven’t been there for you since.”
“You have, but is that because of how you feel about me, or because you don’t have to concern yourself with Melina now?”
“What the fuck?” I snarl, slapping my hand down on the table. “Why do I get the feeling that no matter how I answer you’re not going to be satisfied?”
“Because I won’t,” she whispers. “I’m sorry, Marco, but I don’t want to marry you.”
“That’s tough shit, Helena, because you are marrying me,” I counter, dropping my voice down but leaning into her.
“You can’t force me to marry you.”
“I can. If that’s the way you want to play this, Helena, then believe me, I will fucking do whatever I have to do to make sure my ring is back on your finger.”
“Oh. That reminds me,” she whispers, avoiding my eyes. She grabs her wallet off the table and opens it and unzips a compartment. When she’s done, she reaches out her hand and I see her engagement ring trapped between two of her fingers. She’s reaching them out to me and I just stare at them. “This belongs to you.”
“Put it on your finger, Ena.”
“No. I told you, Marco. I don’t want to marry you.”
“Then it would seem you have a choice to make, Ena.”
“A choice?”
“You either put that ring back on your finger and come home with me, while planning our fucking wedding or you can begin to make arrangements to visit your father in jail for the rest of his life, while figuring out how to live because he won’t have a penny in his name.”
“You’re bluffing,” she gasps.
I hate the look in her eyes. I hate it more that she’s looking at me and finally seeing the evil inside of me. I can’t help it. She brought us to this point. I don’t have a choice. I’m not letting her go.
“I’m not, baby. In fact, try to run from me. Just try, Ena. I dare you.”
“Marco, this is insane,” she whispers.
I can see it in her face. Fear. She’s finally getting it. I’m not husband material. I’m a monster, but she’s not getting away from me. She’s made her bed and now I’m going to fuck her in it.
“I see you’re finally getting it. You gave yourself to me, Ena. The time to run was before that. Now, there’s no escape.”
“My father is powerful. You can’t do what you’re threatening,” she says, but she knows the truth. I can see it in her eyes.