Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I sit down and reach for a croissant, but my mother slaps my hand away.
“You need to stay thin and look good for the Brambillas,” she hisses at me. “No breakfast today.”
With a huff, I pick myself up from the table. I don’t say another word to my parents, instead heading upstairs, where I listlessly sit at my vanity table and regard my reflection.
I don’t want to get ready for a man I don’t know. My mind is spinning in circles, always coming back to one person, the one I can no longer have. Julian is gone forever. My father made sure of that.
I brush my hair, using so much force, I wince as I push the hairbrush through my mane. I hate being here. I feel like a fucking prisoner. But I have little of a choice. Mafia heiresses are good and one thing only - making alliances when they get married. It seems like I’m going to fulfill my purpose soon.
I pick out one of my most demure dresses and don’t apply a stitch of makeup. I leave my hair down, unruly and unstraightened, something I know my parents will hate. But I’m pleased with my minor act of rebellion.
The knock comes exactly an hour later, and I get up with a sigh, following our maid Cristina downstairs. Ana has been replaced since the vase breaking incident, and the new maid is tight-lipped and unfriendly, surely on my parents’ orders.
I enter the salon where two men stand up, seeing me approach. There’s another person in the room, a young man who looks at me with disinterest, his eyes drinking me in before flitting back to the phone in his hands.
“Ah, you must be Francesca,” the older man I don’t know says with a sly smile, holding out his hand.
“I’m Antonio Brambilla, and this is my son, Leonardo.”
His son doesn’t get up and doesn’t say a word. I shake his father’s hand and uselessly stand in the middle of the room while our fathers regard us expectantly. Finally, my father gives a meaningful cough, asking Antonio if he’d like to discuss business. They disappear into the adjoining study, closing the door behind them. Now it’s just me and the groom I never asked for.
“You just going to stand there?”
I glare at Leonardo, not knowing what to say. He’s a handsome guy, but I hate the idea of marrying someone I don’t even get to pick myself. My thoughts keep circling back to Julian, remembering the tender moments we shared the previous night. My father ripped all of that away from me, and now I can never get it back.
“What else would you like me to do?”
He smirks, patting his lap. “How about you sit right here?”
“I don’t think so,” I mutter with distaste. “I barely even know you.”
With a sigh, the guy pockets his phone and gets up, approaching me. He looks so menacing I take a step back to prevent him from reaching me, but there’s nowhere to run. Soon enough, he’s right next to me, and his palm wraps around my wrist.
“Don’t you think you should listen to me, Francesca? You’re about to become my wife.”
I purse my lips and keep glaring at him. Trying to yank my hand free of him, I fail miserably and mewl in pain as he grips me even tighter.
“You’re hurting me,” I hiss.
“Get used to.”
An icy shiver goes down my spine, and I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not your property and I will not let you hurt me.”
Tugging me closer, he gives me no room to escape. I growl in pain, but he doesn’t let it bother him. He pulls me in until our faces are inches apart.
“I have my ways of forcing you,” he smirks. “And actually, I like it even better when you fight me.”
The office doors open and I spring away from him as if I’ve been burned. I feel numb and cold as Antonio and Leonardo say their goodbyes to my father. My heart is fucking pounding by the time they’ve finally left the property.
“I don’t like him,” I whisper when it’s finally just me and my father. “He’s violent… He hurt me. And he told me he would hurt me again.”
My father doesn’t respond, making me narrow my eyes at him.
“Are you even listening to me, papa?”
“Why should I?” he spits out with a venomous look. “You already wasted your virginity, so why should I give a damn about what happens to you now?”
I swallow thickly. I feel more alone than ever as my father strides out of the room, leaving me alone to ponder my sorry life.
Thoughts of Julian consume me yet again, but I force them off my mind. I can’t think about him now, can’t risk going back to fantasizing about a man I can never have.