Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
She didn’t know when her life had gotten so complicated, but it hurt so badly. Even as she hated Marcus, she wanted his arms around her, holding her. How messed up did that make her?
****
Marcus didn’t tell a soul about what happened between him and his wife. Three weeks after the revelation he got the confirmation text of his wife’s appointment. They were going to go for a check to see that the baby was okay, but it was too early to see the sex of the baby.
Ever since his father had discovered Laura was pregnant, Marcus had had no choice but to work. Whenever he was called upon, he had to do his job, be it protection detail, dealing with some of their associates, or just to be a presence.
The biggest problem he had was he missed Laura.
He didn’t want to be apart from her.
Right now, she hated him, and he accepted the distance she’d created between them. For three weeks, he’d gone home and found her in another bed. She refused to share a room with him, and when he returned last night, he’d found her clothing also gone.
She was slowly wiping her presence away from his life, and he didn’t fucking like it.
He’d not been the one to do the deed to her mother.
He was the fucker constantly cleaning up messes.
What he hated right now more than anything was his inability to hold her. He had no doubt Laura was planning something.
He’d seen the suitcases packed in her wardrobe, and also checked the history of her searches and she was trying to find places where he couldn’t find her.
She needed to understand that it didn’t matter to him where she went; he would always find her.
Standing in his father’s office, he listened to the latest coke deal, silently waiting for the meeting to come to an end. They offered the chain, taking forty percent of the profits so the coke could be distributed around the city.
They didn’t touch the stuff, but provided safe passage for it to their shores. It didn’t cost them a cent, but earned them a great sum of the profit. Of course, if anyone died, there was also a nice little crew to pin the deaths on, so it was a win-win from all angles.
With the call ended, he stood before his father.
“I need to go to the hospital,” he said.
“Son, you don’t need to do any such thing. I will have your mother present.”
“I want to go.”
Antonio sat back. “And why would you want to do that?”
“I hope to be part of my son’s life.”
“You don’t know if it’s a boy yet.”
“I still want to be there. Didn’t you?”
“No. Once I knew you were a boy, I left all the other nonsense to the women. I dealt with you when I needed to, and look at what a fine boy you’ve turned out to be.” His father picked up a cigar and took a long puff. The tip glowed as he smiled. “You may go. I have no use for you, but the moment you find out the sex, we want to know.”
“We?”
“Yes. It’s important the fortune stays with us. Not only did the empire belong to us, but on your marriage, certain … paperwork of a delicate nature was given back to us, and we can’t allow our secrets to be exposed. There is no way we would allow ourselves to be weak again. I must know. Understand?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Good.”
Marcus left his father’s office and made his way to the hospital. He didn’t know what kind of mood Laura would be in, but he would hold Lucas for ransom if that was really necessary. The dog had been his only connection to his wife in these past couple of weeks. His father had yet to deliver a new dog, and he had given up on relying on the old bastard.
He would find a dog for Laura.
He had to win his way back into her heart.
As he got to the hospital, he paused.
Win his way back into her heart? There was no guarantee he’d been in her heart in the first place. Their relationship had never been an easy one.
In fact, it had been really fucking hard.
He’d bullied her.
She’d been a bitch.
Neither of them had really gotten on well at all. Half of the time, he had found her annoying. But even as he hated her and she hated him, they had shared moments together. That couldn’t have been in his imagination, and the attraction between them was off the charts. No one could make that up. Against all odds, they wanted each other, and he wasn’t going to let Laura get away from him.
He didn’t mind her thinking there was an escape from him, so long as she knew the truth. There was no way he’d ever let her go. Not now. Not ever.