Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
I take in his chocolate brown Italian loafers and the hem of his navy-blue wool pants. The fluttering moonlight from the window enhances the shine of his shoes. Perfect and pristine.
A few months ago, Alaric wore hoodies and jeans, but he’s transformed into a man who wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but a three-piece suit. The sophisticated Fortune 500 CEO look juxtaposes the tunnels in his ears and the tattoos decorating every visible part of his flesh not covered by the decadent Italian or French threads.
“Well, hello there, Princess,” Alaric coos from above me before hauling me up by my shoulders.
His body surrounds me like a military unit protecting an unsuspecting civilian. He’s an intimidating force who doesn’t want me to be comfortable because that would mean he’d lose the upper hand.
My throat tightens, my stomach plummets, and the courage I had in droves a moment ago quickly melts away. “Um, hi.”
“Thought I told you to stay the fuck away from me,” Alaric spits. His words are directed at me, but his eyes look anywhere but.
I peek behind his arms and notice Celeste sitting in the corner, smiling smugly at me. She’s always been weird with the guys. It goes beyond motherly behavior. She’s taken the overbearing parent role to a new and creepy level.
Her black dress is so short that you’d think she was a college freshman attending her first frat party. She lifts the champagne flute in her hand to her lips and takes a sip, crossing her legs and forcing the restrictive dress further up her thighs. Any higher, and I’m sure I’ll have a perfect view of her vagina. You’d never believe Celeste recently lost the man she claimed to have loved so much that she didn’t know how she’d move on.
Ignoring her, my gaze roams to the other side of the bed. River sits there, facing the wall, his eyes focused on the hardwood floor. The stillness of his body is so out of sorts with the guy I know. His slumped shoulders and inability to look my way send alarm bells through me.
I’ve never seen him like this. Usually, he’s full of arrogance to the point he seems incapable of any emotion that doesn’t serve his needs. Seeing him so empty has a wave of empathy raging through me. I cannot imagine what’s going on in his head and forcing him to look the way he does now.
“I—” Words fail me. I don’t know what to say.
I don’t want to have a conversation with Celeste in the room. The way her eyes rake over me sends chills along my spine. She’s always creeped me out. As much as my father gazed at her in complete devotion and insisted on her goodness, I never believed it.
“Ella, so appropriate of you to join us, dear. We were just talking about you,” Celeste purrs. Her fake smile is a desperate cover-up for the chill in her voice.
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh? Would you care to clue me in on the conversation the three of you were having behind my back?”
“I was telling the boys how it would be appropriate for you to get out. You’ve been cooped up in this house for such a long time.”
Celeste’s bony hands, with their long, red nails, move to the bedside table, and she grabs a shiny envelope. Rising from the bed, she walks toward me, the champagne sparkling in the flute in her other hand. My eyes move from her face to the envelope. Taking it, I open it and read the words inside. An invitation. To an ostentatious ball hosted by Benjamin Nevin and his degenerate son, David.
I shove the paper back at her, slamming it into her chest. “No, thank you.”
Celeste smiles, gripping the envelope tightly. “Oh, sweet Ella, you seem to be under the assumption that I was asking you to attend.”
Wait a minute. Does this woman think she can tell me what to do? Who the fuck does she think she is?
“You can’t make me go to something I refuse to attend? Celeste, you seem to be under the assumption I’m not a full-grown adult.”
“Ella.” Celeste takes a warning step toward me, crowding my space and making it hard to breathe.
She doesn’t invoke the same nervous energy as the guys. Celeste carries impending doom, conveying that she’ll render my life unbearable if I don’t do what she says.
But even with this knowledge kicking me in the guts and screaming in my brain not to push this woman’s boundaries, I hold my ground, willing to witness the magnitude of her cruelty. “I’m not going.”
Celeste moves closer, forcing me to retreat. Her entire stance is intimidation, and my mind rages for me to fight against it.
I step forward, relishing her look of shock. My mouth opens to give her a piece of my mind, but Alaric steps between us.