Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“I’ve given you time. Now we talk.”
“Time?” I ask, lifting a brow.
“Yes. You are my wife, Adora, and here, that means something. A lot, actually.”
“Not to me.”
“Yes, I heard you were fucking women again. Would you like to do that here? Maybe we can arrange for a woman to join our bed for the night?”
“You can fuck whoever you want.”
“I can, indeed.” Nodding, he cuts the steak on his plate before he puts a large piece into his mouth. “I want to fuck you more. I always did enjoy fucking you.”
“You seem to want those who don’t want you.”
His men smile around the table, and Scott tells them to leave. They get up and walk out without argument.
That was always his problem—he got told no.
Until me.
And then he thought it would be cute to have me, fuck me, impregnate me, then marry me. He was married once—most men in this life are. It’s what glues families together. But he killed her after her third miscarriage. So she was useless to him. And then he got infatuated with me.
Only I didn’t want him.
I never wanted him.
He was someone my father gave me to. He didn’t fuck me straight away, choosing to wait until I thought I could trust him. And when I did, he had me. It only took once, that’s all it was. One time, and I knew I was fucked. Then, a year or so later, I was pregnant.
My father immediately told Scott to wed me, which he was more than happy to do. My father took a real nice payment for our pairing.
And then, for years, I was trapped here with him.
My life was normal, I guess you could say. I had a baby, and I was young with no help. I saw my father on the odd occasion.
But the day that set it all in motion was when I heard them talking about Abigail.
“She isn’t like Adora. She will be…” I hear my father’s voice, “… easier to tame.”
I hear Scott laugh.
“Adora is easy.”
“She is never easy. Neither was her mother.”
“Maybe you don’t know how to tame them, old man.”
“I’m not much older than you, Scott, so watch your mouth.” They went silent, and I stuck to that door, listening. Jerome had just gone to sleep, and I was returning to bed. Some nights I fell asleep in his bed and would wake up with Scott pulling at my arm to go to our bed because he wanted sex.
I hated those nights most of all.
Tonight, though, I was on my way back to our room.
“You know, dealing with me gets you the things you want. Did I not give you what you wanted?” Scott asks.
“Money,” my father answers.
“Yes, and plenty more of that.”
My father has money, but it seems when you have a lot of it, you still want more.
“She isn’t even sixteen yet.”
“I like them young.” I hear them move, and I run straight to our bedroom and sit heavily on the bed. That’s when I see Scott’s gun on his bedside table.
“Adora.”
“You plan to buy my sister?” I ask, and his lip quirks up.
“You were listening.”
“I was.”
He removes his belt from his trousers but pauses before continuing to undress. “Show me why I shouldn’t. You only fuck me when you want something. Show me why I shouldn’t buy her as well.”
And I do.
I have sex with him, even though I absolutely loathe him.
I kiss him, even though his lips are filled with lies.
I touch him as if he is a lover, not a villain.
That’s what he is to me.
A villain.
When I’m done and lying next to him, he touches my shoulder. “How nice is it going to be to have your sister here?” He gets up and heads to the shower.
That night, I kiss Jerome and leave the house.
And I pay a visit to my father.
Scott smiles at me from across the table. I was an adult when I left him, with hardly any life knowledge because I was stuck with him for years. Now, I am not the same person.
Life changes you.
I’m a woman now.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Adora. It’s the only reason you’re still sitting here.”
“Yes, woman. How does that sit with you?” I ask, leaning in. “You took me as a teenager, had me in my early adult years. And now, I see you for everything you are. Do you really still want me since I’m not young anymore?”
“It’s only been two years, Adora.”
“It feels like a lifetime.”
It feels like forever.
I’m in my mid-twenties now and am not the naïve girl he once had.
And I’ve been married. Twice.
Once to the man in front of me, and once to a man I think I very much might love.
“Tell me, was it the sister that finally pushed you over the edge?”
“You know it was.”