Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
My heart contracts at the mention of Pirate.
“You were the only real person there,” he continues. “That’s when I knew how lucky I was. I wanted you even if you were only sixteen. The two years I waited for you to turn eighteen were the longest of my life. But you were mine already the first time I met you. You’ve been mine ever since, and you will always be mine. Once I laid my eyes on you, I couldn’t let you go. I did what was necessary to keep you, and I’ll do so until my dying day.”
At a loss for words, I can only stare at him.
He releases my wrists and cups my face, his expression both tender and tormented. Adoring and resentful. He looks at me with those opposites reflected in the depth of his haunted black eyes that mirror the duality of his being.
Angel and demon.
Kindness and cruelty.
The man I love and hate.
“The problem is, Sabella, I’ve always accepted you as my fate. You, on the other hand, have never chosen me, not after you’d gotten to know who I really am.”
He lifts off me, breaking our connection. There’s no cum to run between my legs, nothing for him to look at, because he’s kept his word in using condoms.
I open my mouth, but no words form on my lips.
Because I can’t lie to him.
Because he’s right.
After I got to know the true Angelo Russo, he’s never been my choice.
Chapter
Fourteen
Angelo
* * *
I just bared my soul to Sabella, flayed myself wide open and laid my heart at her feet, and still she doesn’t choose me.
Instead, she gives me silence.
I didn’t expect otherwise, but I hoped.
And fuck, her rejection stings.
I turn away from her, hiding the feelings that must be written all over my face. I made myself vulnerable enough for one evening. More than I ever have in my lifetime.
Why?
We’re running out of time.
Lavigne is on his way. Soon, he’ll be the instrument I use to expose her betrayal.
This was our last chance. It was my final opportunity to change the way things are between us, the way we live. The way it’ll be.
Fuck.
Needing space, I walk to the guest bathroom and get rid of the condom. After cleaning up, I go back to the lounge. The spot where I left Sabella is empty. Like a caveman, I took her right there on the hard floor. What can I say? I panicked. I know her physical limits. She’s a good swimmer. Free-diving is second nature to her. She can hold her breath far longer than the few seconds I made her swallow my cock. I was damn sure I didn’t push her too far. Seeing her simply give up and fade away like that fucked with my mind. And when she didn’t respond to the air I fed with my brutal kisses, I did the only thing I knew would pull her back to me.
Our bodies have always been tuned to one another. Drawn to each other. They’ve never known another touch. Mine answers to hers just as hers reacts to mine. We’re bound together physically, and yet, our time has run out. The knowledge is like a block of cement chained to my ankle and dragging me down into the darkest pit of despair.
Pushing away the sinking dejection, I pick my clothes up from the floor. My phone is a solid weight in the pocket of my pants. I’m growing careless. Sabella could’ve gotten hold of it by now. But what does it matter? Who can she call? Lavigne has already taken the bait. She has no one else to turn to. Her embassy won’t save her. My political connections run too deep. Her family can’t come to her aid. She struck a deal when she agreed to marry me. No, she’s stuck here with me forever. Against her will. Which means my forever will consist of always looking over my shoulder, always mistrusting her, always banishing her.
So be it.
I’ll pay the price if the prize is her.
I bundle my clothes in a fist and go upstairs to throw them in the hamper. Sabella steps out of the shower when I enter the bathroom. Drops of water run over her golden skin. I take in her firm breasts and flat stomach, those long, slender legs, and the soft curve of her hips. My mark on her pussy. She averts her gaze and grabs a towel from the rack that she wraps around her body.
I dump my clothes in the basket. She faces the mirror and picks up a hairbrush. I study her features as she drags the brush through her hair. I notice everything. That beauty spot at the corner of her mouth. She’s not the girl I met at the age of sixteen. Her face has matured. It’s as if she’s grown into her own skin. If anything, her fine bone structure seems more delicate. She’s never been more beautiful to me.