Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
And that time, instead of the gun, I used the knives, taking into account all the times he’d undermined me. I considered the many times he’d beaten me. The times he’d hit my mother, who took punishment for something miniscule that Dominic or I had done. I’d tried to hide Dominic from it. But he’d had his fair share of kills even then.
But then… it was different.
And it became different the night I tortured my father for fun and shot him between the eyes, taking my official claim as head of the family.
I wonder now, had a woman such as Rya been in our lives how she might’ve pleaded my case. Not that I cared for what she or anyone thought… but I was curious.
CHAPTER 21
Rya
Two weeks have gone by since I’ve seen or heard from Crue. At first, it had me on edge, but then I slid back into my normal everyday life. I’m lost in my cases, and I made it perfectly clear to Mr. Luca and the board that I won’t accept the new role until I’ve finalized the Torrisi case. A lot of press and money rides on this case, and it’s consumed me entirely. Between balancing that and meeting with Angel every spare second, it’s understandable I almost forget about Crue, as if that monster had been a figment of my imagination.
Just when I think he’s about given up, I look up from my desk and freeze as he lets himself into my office.
“You can’t be here,” I hiss.
As he closes the door, I look past him at some of my colleagues who are curiously looking this way.
This is bad.
“Princess,” he says with an arrogant smile.
“You need to leave.” I stand, acutely aware of the onlookers.
He checks around my office, ignoring my agitation. “I haven’t heard from you. As your husband, I’m hurt.”
“You are not my husband,” I grit out. When he peeks over my computer screen, I quickly pile up my notes and throw them into my top drawer. Then I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. “What do you want, Crue? You agreed you would leave me alone.”
“I did, and I have. But you ignored my email this morning, and it’s an urgent matter.”
“Going on a date with you is not an urgent matter.”
He cracks his neck from side to side. “I wouldn’t consider it so much as a date as I would showing off my new prize.”
Suddenly, I’m reminded of how much I truly hate this man. “I’m not your prize.”
He toys with the few pens in a cup on my desk, and I know he’s purposefully doing it to piss me off. He looks up beneath thick lashes, that arrogant smile widening as he realizes how annoyed I am.
“I’ll see you there at nine.”
“No.”
“Hmm,” he all but purrs. “Should I start shooting your colleagues one at a time until you see matters more clearly?”
“You wouldn’t.” And I feel stupid even saying it. He’s proved otherwise numerous times.
His eyebrows rise in challenge. “Or would you be more convinced if I bend you over this desk and fuck you so hard you remember your obedience? Perhaps two weeks was too long to let you roam free.”
The thought of Crue having me bent over this desk floods my core, a dull ache left in its wake. And I hate it. I hate it so fucking much how my body responds to him. And his arrogant, cruel smile knows it.
“Is it true about my boss having footage of me?” I ask.
His jaw tics, and his expression darkens. “Angel told you.” Not a question. And I almost feel stupid asking him. Except if there’s one thing I’ve learned since meeting Crue again, it’s that a bargain can always be struck. He has something I want. And he wants me. Or so he says. But the way he looks at me, I can’t deny it.
“You leave her alone,” I warn.
His eyebrows raise again. “You don’t give me orders, princess.”
“Show me evidence, and I’ll come to this ‘dick-swinging’ party of yours.”
“Dick-swinging?”
“Isn’t that what it is? To be flashy, to show a Ricci on your arm?”
“Not just any Ricci, a woman who could as quickly put them behind bars as she might be able to get them out. You can see how that might be favorable for some of my… partners.”
I rest a hand on the desk and click one nail after the other in consideration. “But if I find out you pull any shit with Angel, I’ll put a bullet in you myself.”
A dark laugh rumbles through him, and I can see the obvious bulge that swells in his pants. I lick my lips with anticipation at the memory of what it felt like. Of how fulfilling riding his cock could be.
“Okay, princess. Agreed. I’ll see you at nine.”