Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“What do you know?”
“I know about the burning bed, the baseball bat. Was that really your father?”
I stupidly nodded my head because I was caught off guard.
“Was it because of the affair?” Who the fuck?
GARRETT
I’ve lost my fucking mind. That’s the only explanation I can give myself. I’d spent the last few hours sitting in my villa overlooking the sea, contemplating whether or not I wanted to go through with this.
If I’m being honest, it started the moment she sat down across from me at our first meeting. She knew who I was and probably what I was worth or close to it, but I didn’t get that hungry vibe from her.
There was chemistry, which was hard to deny, but she didn’t make a play, didn’t try to drop any hints, and did nothing. I wasn’t offended; in fact, I was intrigued. It had to be the first time in about ten years since that had happened to me.
At twenty-three, I started my first startup, which took off in just two years and propelled me into the top one percentile. Ever since then, I’ve had more disingenuous women throw themselves at me than I care to remember.
This one was straightforward; she didn’t try to hide her extreme smarts or play up to me as a man. I’ve had women hide their PhDs as if somehow that was a turnoff. Or women who were looking for someone to take care of them instead of a partner.
To each his own, but that’s not my style and never has been. Before we met, I barely knew the bare bones of her business acumen, and that was about it. I was at first surprised by how young she was, but once I had the background check run on her, it all became clear. She’s smart as shit.
When my man called me with the first update, I had to ask him twice if he was sure he had the right person. He sent me a picture of her returning to her home after beating the shit out of everyone in her father’s house, and I was gobsmacked.
Once he’d compiled the whole report, I sat in silence for a good hour trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and then he dug deeper and found out more about her past.
I stopped him from going any further because, at some point, I decided I wanted to learn about her from her. That was another first. I’ve learned from experience that it’s best to know every minute detail before letting anyone get too close, but for some reason, with her, I felt a rush of excitement at the thought of getting to know her the old-fashioned way.
I knew where she was going and why and got here the day before she did. If she hadn’t turned up, I would’ve hunted her down at her home, but she came, which I was hoping she would. Not just so I could meet her here, but because I wanted to see if she was the kind of woman who would go through with it.
I don’t know why everything about her makes my heart sing, but it does, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it. I called her boss with that bogus story, making sure he knew that it was no fault of hers, of course and now we’re here, on our way to my place for the dinner I’d had prepared for us.
“I don’t understand. You had someone watching me all this time? Why?”
“At first, it was because I wanted to know who you were.”
“And after?”
“It was to protect you.”
“Protect me, protect me from what?”
“You played an intricate part in the business deal I just signed, so you know how protective I am about what’s mine and the lengths I go to to make sure they’re safe. Why do you think I had someone in place to protect you?”
ALYSSA
We didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride because I was still mulling over his words and trying to make sense of everything. Not long after, we pulled through these humongous gates that led to a sprawling white mansion with a red roof that looked as if it was built into the cliff it sat on.
Below the sea crashed into the rock and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. “What is this place?”
“My villa, or at least one of them. Come, I’ve had the chef prepare your favorite dinner.”
I watched him climb out as the driver came to my door to let me out, still not sure what was going on here. My phone rang, jarring me, and I fished it out of my purse and saw Bri’s number.
“One moment!” I held up my hand to Garrett and stepped to the side to take the call.