Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
He called after me and I shook my head, turning to the band and lifting my hands, swaying to the beat and singing along with the words. He came up behind me, his body fitting against mine, and I allowed it. I turned my head, watching a display of lasers dance across the club, and saw him.
On the raised ledge that surrounded the floor, his weight against the rail, in a suit that looked like a million dollars, Dario Capece watched me. Our eyes connected, and my thought process stalled, my body stuttering mid-sway. The guy behind me pulled at my hip, and I pushed away, coming to stand on an empty spot, holding the gaze of Vegas’s most powerful man.
He was here. I’d known it before we left the house, had expected it at the coat check, the bar, the moment we’d sat down at the high top. I’d looked for him in every crowd and expected him with every breath. Still, I was surprised. I hadn’t properly remembered the crush of my lungs, skip of my heart, the sheer force of his eye contact. He tilted his head toward the spot beside him and I didn’t even hesitate.
* * *
DARIO
She was beautiful. Eyes closed, body moving. When he watched her dance, he wanted her underneath his body. Needed to feel those movements against his cock. Craved that smile, that laugh, that mouth. He watched her and didn’t think about their loan refinance, or the ADR decline at the Palace, or Cirque du Soleil’s contract renewal. He watched her and felt something he didn’t understand. Vulnerability with a side of fear. Want eclipsed by need. Intrigue overshadowed by jealousy.
She finally looked up and saw him. Her hips slowed and she came to a stop in the middle of the dance floor, the man behind her ignored, the beat forgotten. There was nothing, in that moment, but the two of them. And in the connection of their eyes, everything inside of him intensified.
This girl would be the death of him.
* * *
THE BABYSITTER
Claudia was bored with watching Dario Capece. The damn man didn’t know a woman he didn’t want to pursue. It was a full-time job, keeping up with his revolving door of pussy. She watched the pretty brunette make eye contact with Dario and wondered if this would be the one that was a problem.
Eventually, one of them would be. At some point, the impenetrable Dario Capece would go too far and fall in love. And when he did, if he did, Claudia would be there. And that girl wouldn’t be like the others, the mistresses that she hid from Hawk and kept safe, unbeknownst to their pretty little heads. That girl, the one who finally snags Dario Capece’s heart?
Claudia would have to tell Robert Hawk about her.
And she… she would have to die.
* * *
BELL
“Where are you going?” Jackie grabbed my arm.
“I’m taking a break,” I called out over the music, and she flashed a thumbs-up in response. I turned, working my way through the crowd, and found a small staircase to the side that led to his level. There was a guard, a huge man who opened the rope without a word and nodded to me with respect.
Surprised, I thanked him and made my way along the railing. As I approached, Dario turned to watch. Unlike last time, his eyes didn’t take a tour of my body, something that almost disappointed me. Despite my best intentions, I’d chosen this dress—an attention-grabbing gold number that showed off my legs—for him. Instead, his gaze locked on mine, a small smile pulling at his mouth.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns...”
“I didn’t plan to walk into yours,” I interrupted. “I blame it solely on the three women who dragged me here.” I smiled to soften the words.
“Ouch.” He winced. “I’ll have to see what I can do to persuade you to come back, since a three-million-dollar renovation hasn’t done its job.”
I joined him at the railing, looking down on the crowd, grateful for the excuse to break eye contact. “The club is great. That wasn’t the reason for my trepidation.” I forced myself to turn to him, hyperaware of how close we were. My arm brushed his and I felt the current all the way to my toes. I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with him. Dario Capece, a man who created millionaires and paupers every day, and he was focused on me as if he had all the time and interest in the world.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me, Bell.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” It was the truth. Maybe I should have been. But the only thing I feared was the pull I felt toward him. It was dizzying, the loss of control, the struggle to keep my attraction in check. No wonder he owned this town. I bet there wasn’t a person in town, male or female, that he couldn’t persuade into doing his bidding. I wet my lips. “I just think you need to learn boundaries.”