Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 156392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 782(@200wpm)___ 626(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 782(@200wpm)___ 626(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Eli stands with eerie collectiveness and buttons his jacket. “You’re lucky we’re in public or that knife would’ve been deep in your throat. Look at my wife again and I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
He grabs my elbow and pulls me up as I wobble on unsteady legs.
The waiters are fawning over Robert as he curses and acts like a spoiled brat toward the people trying to help him.
“Bin him, sis.” I pat Janet’s hand as she stares up at me with lost eyes. “You deserve so much better.”
And then Eli is walking me out of the restaurant amid gaping faces without batting an eye, as if he didn’t just stab a man.
The night air slaps my face as we stop in front of the hotel, waiting for the car.
My tongue is still in knots, but I manage to ask in a strangled voice, “Why…why did you do that?”
“Why not?” His grip slides from my arm to my waist, tightening on my hip. “You want to spend the fucking night with Robert, Ava?”
I shake my head frantically. He sounds and looks more terrifying than when he actually stabbed the man’s hand.
“Good, because there’s no option for you with another man.”
“Because you’d stab them?”
“Stab them, sabotage them, smash their goddamn lives to smithereens, force them to vanish without a trace. Take your pick. There’s no peaceful future for any other man in your life, wife.”
I swallow, the sound ringing in my ears. I knew Eli was behind the disappearance of my exes and any possible love interest, but I thought it was along the lines of my petty attempts to ward off the girls around him. I never thought it’d be exponentially frightening until now.
“What…what have you done, Eli?”
“The question is, what haven’t I done?”
“You’re sick.”
“You made me sick. Next time you parade yourself around, begging for attention, I want you to think about Robert’s blood and multiply it tenfold, because they’ll be swimming in theirs once I’m done with them. You’re my wife and those who don’t respect that fact will be dealt with accordingly.”
“Including me?”
“Including you.” And then his lips devour mine. It’s a violent kiss I can’t pull away from and a part of me doesn’t want to.
My reality flashes before me in bright red as he nips on my lip and I taste metal.
I bite his back, drawing his blood, cementing our marriage with an irreversible vow.
My husband is a full-blown sociopath, and I’m his insane, completely illogical obsession.
28
AVA
It should be a miracle that Eli managed to come out relatively unscathed after stabbing a man. Publicly. In an extremely affluent place.
And yet that’s exactly what happened.
No charges were filed against him and the whole thing faded away in the span of a week.
I don’t think he’s even taken a trip to the police station.
Unfortunately, however, the incident reached the press’s grabby hands, and he couldn’t exactly escape the scandalous headlines, which, in retrospect, put him in more trouble with his father—according to Leo.
Leo and I gossip now. All the time. While Sam crochets and shakes her head at us. But she loves the gossip, too. She just doesn’t like to admit it.
And she’s totally in our group chat of three that I named ‘Chamber of Gossip.’ I’m no longer worried they’d out me or sell my secrets to Eli since we’re a team against him.
I even overheard Sam tell him the other day to stop ordering me around. Not in those words, but it was something similar. You can bet that I hugged and kissed her chubby cheeks afterward, and she was horrified for hours.
Anyway, Leo said Eli’s been dealing with the fallout of that incident. The incident being stabbing a man and then finger-fucking me in the car while I prayed Leo didn’t hear us. And then as soon as we got home, he kept his promise and brought me to orgasm with his tongue and cock.
It still feels sick that I got off on the same hands that mutilated another person, and even found it hot, but I’ve come to the realization that I’m far from normal.
Both mentally and emotionally. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so drawn to a man who drips toxicity and charm.
But that’s not for here or now.
The reason I practically invited myself over for dinner with his parents was to have a chat with my father-in-law.
Naturally, Aunt Elsa was over the moon when I called. We went shopping first and she spoiled me rotten, bought me enough things to last me a year and insisted I get every dress I tried on.
After dinner, however, Uncle Aiden immediately retreats to his study for some pending business calls. Before I can follow him, Aunt Elsa drags me to the sitting area.
The King mansion stands tall and proud, easily rivaling the majesty of Buckingham Palace. Its baroque architecture and intricately designed decor exude an imposing quality that perfectly reflects its owner, Uncle Aiden.