Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
My eyes shifted to Scarlett to see her reaction.
Her tough exterior was gone. Her eyes were less confident, and she looked straight at me. Her gaze lingered for a moment before she turned away and lifted the glass to her lips for a deep drink.
We returned to the estate and exited the SUV.
Scarlett turned to walk inside, but she stopped when she realized her father had decided to walk up to me instead, his face just inches from mine.
My eyes shifted to her behind him, to let him know she was there.
“I’ll be in shortly, sweetheart.” He turned to give her a smile, to pretend that he was this wonderful man who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
She walked inside.
He turned back to me. “What the fuck was that?”
“What?” I said seriously.
“You undermined me—”
“You insulted my guys.”
“Did you just interrupt me—”
“Yes, I did. I’m not your bitch, Dante. I’m your partner, and you better start acting like it.”
He stared at me, his anger sheathed in silence.
“You came to me because you needed to solve your distribution problems. I’ve solved them. If you don’t like this partnership, then perhaps we should dissolve it and you can find someone else to fulfill your needs.” It was a threat, because we both knew he had no one else but me…at least right now. “I know you run your business differently than I do, lead your men with fear rather than respect, but that’s not how I do things. I trust my guys, and they trust me. Just because we’re doing business together doesn’t give you the right to walk in there and piss on everything you don’t like.”
He swallowed all of this with an ice-cold stare.
“Do you understand me?”
His silence remained.
“And that’s no fucking place for Scarlett. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
One of his eyebrows cocked. “You think I’d let anything happen to my daughter—”
“I’m starting to wonder if you care if anything happens to your daughter. Because if I had a daughter, she’d be far away from this shit. I wouldn’t parade her around like some sick trophy—”
“But you don’t have a daughter, Axel. You don’t have a wife either.” His tone dripped with coldness. “Because you have nothing.” His eyes narrowed, knowing he was digging the knife into the wound. “Nothing, asshole.”
I stared him down, managing to hate him more than I had before. “You know the only reason she wants this is because you want it.”
He said nothing.
“You have her under your thumb, and you know it.”
Again, he said nothing.
“She’s going to get killed…or worse. And you know it.”
“My daughter is not your concern, Axel.”
She was my concern—but I couldn’t fucking say it.
Dante gave me another hard stare before he turned to walk away. “Get off my property.”
It’d been days, and I hadn’t spoken to Scarlett. I hadn’t spoken to her for days before that either.
I wondered if our arrangement was over and she was trying to ghost me. But she couldn’t ghost me because I was already ghosting her. I spent my mornings sleeping and my nights wide awake. But my bed was empty except for me, and my thoughts were filled with a woman who wasn’t there.
I was on the couch in my bedroom in front of the TV when she texted me. We haven’t talked in a while.
I stared at the message and read it at least five times.
Now I could ghost her. Ignore her until she got the hint that I’d lost interest.
Come over.
The second I read that message, the hairs on my arm stood upright. A flush moved through my chest and stomach, and all I could think about was getting hot and sweaty with my dick inside that soaked pussy.
Your messages are on read.
I liked people to know when their messages were read. That way, they wouldn’t blow up my phone to get my attention.
Alright…goodnight, then. Her dots disappeared.
I tried to focus on the TV, but all I could think about was her. Those green eyes and the way they showed every thought that passed across her mind. She had the perfect lips for kissing, and I bet they were perfect for sucking too, not that I’d had the pleasure. There were many reasons to ignore her and move on, but none of those reasons seemed good enough right now. I’m coming, baby.
I walked through the door that she always left unlocked.
She was on the couch, wearing a teddy, garter, and stockings. Her lacy bra had her tits pushed up together like deviled eggs on a platter.
I stopped when I spotted her, the breath leaving my lungs at the sight of her. Whenever I looked at her, a monster inside me was unleashed, and all I wanted was to be inside her, to listen to her gasp when she felt me invade her homeland.
She rose to her feet, standing in heels, her long hair down her shoulders.