Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I slapped him hard across the face.
He turned with the hit then backed up in shock. His furious eyes returned to me, in disbelief that I had the audacity to hit him. Then he came toward me, ready to make good on his word.
“Lay a hand on me, and see what happens.”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
“Do it. Make me black and blue. Break my jaw. Let me go home to my man and show him what you’ve done to me.”
Powerless to do anything other than stare at me with a pissed-off look on his face, he just stood there, invisible ropes tying his hands back.
“That’s what I thought.” I walked right up to him—and spat on his face.
He flinched like he wanted to hit me, but he wiped the saliva from his face instead.
“I’m coming for you, Lucas.” I walked past him as I made my exit. “Or should I say…my man is coming for you.”
21
BARTHOLOMEW
“Everything is set.” Bleu sat in the armchair closest to the cold fireplace.
My men filled the room, some sitting on the windowsills, others occupying the couches, some standing in the corners. The armchair was mine—and they all knew not to sit there. I looked at Bleu’s blue eyes, identical to his brother’s, but they were different in every other way.
He couldn’t replace what I’d lost.
The door to the study opened, and instead of seeing my butler enter to make an announcement, it was Laura.
She stilled when she realized what she’d just walked into.
Armed men in every corner. A tense silence that punctured her skin the second she felt the atmosphere. They were all pivoted to face me, my presence the sun in this galaxy. Her eyes quickly flicked to all the men standing there before she looked at me. Without saying a word, she closed the door and retreated.
“Excuse me.” I finished my drink then left the room, leaving the men to occupy themselves in my absence. She was already up the stairs and gone by the time I made it into the hallway, so I headed to my bedroom, where she would be waiting for me.
When I entered, she was sitting on the couch, her heels already on the floor beside her.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” she said without looking at me, like she was afraid of me.
She’d grown up with strange men positioned all over her childhood home, so this shouldn’t be any different. But it disturbed her because she’d never witnessed me in my element before. All she knew about me was what I shared with her, but she’d never seen me in action. She’d never watched me command a room. Never watched me break a skull under my boot. Never watched me raise my voice when my men failed to execute my wishes. It was a solemn reminder of the man she was fucking.
“Did you see your sister?”
“Yes.” Her eyes were still elsewhere, even though I sat directly across from her.
That was all she gave me. Nothing else. That was when I knew something was wrong. “Sweetheart?”
After a breath, she turned her head to regard me. With a steely gaze, she stared at me, her eyes shielded as if behind protective glass. “I’m going to ask you something—and you’re going to tell me the truth.”
“You don’t need to command my honesty, not when I’ve never lied to you.”
Her eyes dropped, thinking everything over in her head.
I could read the unease in her beautiful face, saw the way she tried to process the horrible truth. She hadn’t asked the question because she wasn’t ready for the answer yet. She was a smart woman and had connected the dots on her own, but it wouldn’t be real until I confirmed her terrible suspicions. “Yes.”
Her eyes lifted again.
“It’s me.”
Her eyes were still before she swallowed. Her gaze remained steady, but only for a short while. Then she lost her bearings quickly, looking at anything else but me. Her hand rubbed her arm, her knees came close together, and she continued to struggle with the affirmation she’d asked for. “This whole time…” She shook her head, like her disagreement would make it untrue. “You knew exactly who I was when you walked into my shop…”
“Yes.”
Now her eyes were glued to the floor, and she looked like she might cry. “Jesus…”
“Laura—”
She got to her feet and prepared to walk out barefoot.
“Laura.”
She ignored me and headed to the door.
“Let me explain.”
“Fuck off.”
I went after her, grabbing her by the arm when she was in the hallway.
She spun out of my grasp and shoved me. Threw her arms against stone. Tried to pry herself free from my strong body, the tears starting to spring from her eyes.
“You’re free to go after we talk. Not before.”
“Don’t tell me what to do—”
“I can do whatever I damn well please. Now sit your ass on the couch.” I guided her back into the bedroom with my hand on her arm. I shut the door behind us, and this time, I blocked it so she couldn’t run back into the hallway.