Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“How did Emelia react to her new detail?” I ask.
I hired two men to look after her, for both safety reasons and also the glaring fact that I can’t trust her yet. There are two in the penthouse for the times that I am unable to be there—which will be a lot. I felt two was being generous to her, seeing as I wanted to put two more outside. But there is building security, and I decided to cut her some slack.
“She wasn’t…” He pauses, and I stop and look him directly in the eyes, urging him to go on with just the lift of my brows. “Pleased. We will be replacing some of the dishware. Let’s just say some plates were thrown.”
This gets my blood boiling, and I can’t just sit here and let her get away with being so irrational. Defiant little shit. Grabbing my phone, I select her number and press Call.
“Oh, my dearest husband, to what do I owe this wonderful pleasure?” The word “pleasure” holds such disdain, and I mimic it.
“You little brat. Do you have to turn everything into a fucking show?”
She laughs. “Aw, were the plates your best friends? Do they talk to you and keep you company? Is your little heart as broken as they are?”
“You’re getting on my last nerve. If you want to act like a fucking child, I will treat you as such. Do not keep fucking with me. You want a war, principessa, I can give it to you.”
“Good. I have years of pent-up rage from bullshit handed to me by men like you that I am looking to unload, and you’re the perfect candidate.”
Looking at Giulio, I glare. He steps into the room and gives me a minute out in the hall.
“You either play the part, or I will call your father, and we can call off this deal. I can make the arrangements, and I will start building alliances against one another once again. You want that, wife?” I enunciate the last word, making sure she feels that shit in her goddamn chest. Even though that is the last thing I want to do, because it could get in the way of my pre-made plans, I still use it as a threat. Because I know she hates her family more than she could ever hate me.
Emelia may feel close to that type of hatred, but I haven’t hit that peak yet.
“If it means it would be your downfall, then I wouldn’t give a care in the world. Also, I just want you to know—it's only him. It will always be him. I’ll never stop loving Damian.”
This statement. This enrages me. What the fuck did she just say to me? To make such bold announcements. Does she think she even has a chance to be with him again? We’ll see how much she wants him ones I flay his skin from his very bones.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of. Hold tight, Emelia. This has only just begun.” I end the call, making sure I have the last word.
The rest of the evening dragged on, meetings, business deals, and another fucking letdown. I had to handle a man myself, leaving him with more fingers cut off than attached.
That’s what I do when you steal from me. You’d think everyone would learn after hearing the horror stories on the street about what happens when you take from me. But this just goes to show, you must reinstate force and give reminders of your power. You have to re-terrify those who have forgotten just what you are capable of.
What’s worse? I thought about her all damn day. Grew angrier with each passing second. She makes me want to bend her over my knee and spank her into submission. But with her, I can’t. Why? I fear I would like it. But that would be my red-blooded male desire—not love. And I don’t need her ever feeling like this could be love.
Did her mentioning Damian nearly make me call to have him taken out? Yes. But I don’t need her thinking it mattered to me that much or that her words hold any power over me. Because they don’t.
He doesn’t have any chance of getting into her life. I would shut that down before he ever got the opportunity to do such a thing.
By the time I’m home, it is nearing midnight. Stepping inside, I smell the dinner I had my chef make and leave in the oven for me, but I see not one broken dish. However, I do see the empty-as-all-fuck cupboards and more.
My staff had to place an order for new dishes, and that embarrasses me. No one embarrasses me. Preparing to turn on my heels and finally unleash my wrath on this maddening brat, I’m stopped by her presence in the doorway. She leans against it in barely-there lingerie.