Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Geno snapped on the light that would cast her shadow on the wall behind her. At once the telling tubes reached out in every direction. His breath caught in his throat. He’d been right; he’d known she was a rider. The tubes were some of the strongest he’d ever seen. He moved to her left, staying several feet from her, making certain there was no way she could so much as reach him with spit. He wanted his shadow to connect with hers, but he had to wait for the others. He’d promised Stefano.
They studied one another openly. Her eyes by turns held sadness, anger, a fierce determination. They were beautiful, haunting, expressive. Absolutely captivating. She flexed her fingers, drawing his attention to her hands. She had small, delicate hands. Her feet looked tiny. She really did look like a ballet dancer.
The door opened and Dario Bosco sauntered in. A large man with wide shoulders and a ripped body, he wore a suit and no expression. He was easily one of the most dangerous men Geno had ever met. Dario positioned himself ten feet to the left of and just in front of the prisoner, well within striking distance of her with the set of throwing knives he had on display on the inside of his open jacket.
It was clear Amaranthe knew him, or at least of him, by his reputation. The color drained from her face, and for the first time, panic and fear warred with the calm in her eyes. Her gaze jumped back to Geno’s face. He saw her swallow almost convulsively, but then her lashes swept down. When that thick black fringe came back up, there was steel there. Absolute, utter resolve.
Stefano Ferraro followed Dario into the room and positioned himself fifteen feet directly in front of Amaranthe. He took out a Glock and held it with deadly intent. There was no way to mistake the meaning in his hard features.
Valentino Saldi entered and crossed in front of the chair, barely sparing the prisoner a glance as he took up his position to the right of the chair the same distance as Dario from her.
The moment they were in position, Geno made his move, deliberately shifting spots. It only required taking a few steps forward so that his shadow connected with hers. The jolt of sexual awareness was savage and unexpected, so extreme it sent scorching heat rushing through his veins, flames blazed down his spine and jagged strikes of lightning forked straight to his cock. It was impossible to control that strong of a firestorm and he didn’t try, allowing it to wash over and through him. His shadow tangled with hers fast, binding hers with knot after knot, eager to complete the connection between them.
“Stop. What are you doing?” Amaranthe’s voice broke on a soft, low entreaty of total panic. “Damn you.” The last was a hiss of warning.
Geno pressed a fist to his chest. The sound of her voice, those musical notes tuned specifically to him, broke open a place deep inside his chest that had been closed off. Something twisted at his heart, which had been made of stone. All along he had known this woman was meant for him. Almost from the moment he had laid eyes on the prisoner, he had been disturbed.
But she had betrayed all shadow riders. She had most likely murdered his parents or aided those who had done so. He had searched the world over for her. It wasn’t as if he thought he was a bargain. Out of necessity, the Archambaults had shaped him into a ruthless, cold man. He’d had to become a machine at a very early age in order to carry the heavy weight of responsibility for so many lives. Still, he had lived with a strict moral code, and he expected that the woman destined to spend her life with him would do so as well.
He felt that first recognition of his true character, the one that came with the strength of connection through their shadows. She felt the full impact of who he was. What he was. Her gaze darted between Dario and him. Yeah. She got it. She had been afraid of the wrong man. She had counted on him being soft inside because of her connection to him. Like him, she had known the moment she felt him that they belonged, and she counted on him going easy on her.
Why she had come to his territory without doing research on him, he didn’t know. Any rider would have told her he was a man absolutely ruthless and as cold as ice when he needed to be.
“I see you understand me now,” he said. “I’m going to ask you questions. It’s important that you answer truthfully. Not only can I hear lies, but our shadows are connected. I have no sympathy for traitors. You have chosen to betray all shadow riders as well as the man who would have been your life partner.”