Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
She demanded to see more, and I wanted to hang up. I wanted to end the call, but I just couldn’t. Amelia had been nothing but good to me, ever. I had had more than a couple glasses of wine at that point, so I couldn’t come up with a reason not to show her.
It was the cross that confirmed who it was. One image of him standing over me while I sucked his cock played over and over in my head and I had to get it on canvas. I had painted it not as I had seen it, but from the perspective of someone standing behind me watching.
The bottom of the canvas showed my hair, and his hand tangled in it. The canvas ended at his shoulders, so there was no face, but the truth was undeniable given the depiction of the cross that Father Manwarring wore, the gold one embedded with rubies, and the signet ring that was only half covered by my hair.
She didn’t give me a chance to explain. She disconnected the line, and I assumed she was on her way here to drag me back and make me face whatever consequences she thought necessary. Maybe she was going to tell Mother, maybe she was going to have Thomas shipped back to Rome. I had no idea what her plan would be, but I just knew she was on her way.
I took another sip of the dark red wine I had found in the wine cellar. I didn’t recognize the label, but it was fantastic.
As I put the glass back down on a side table, movement in the mirrored surface of the fountain caught my attention. Someone had come up behind me and it wasn’t Amelia.
It was him.
I turned, knocking over the canvas and shattering the glass, dark red wine spilling across the patio.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, backing away, pulling the blanket tighter around my body.
“You left without permission,” he growled, taking a slow, measured step toward me.
“I don’t have to ask for your permission,” I said, taking a step back, my heart racing as icy fear shot down my spine, but still my body responded to him and warmth built in my core.
“You do. You are mine, angel.” He took another step toward me, and I whipped the blanket off of my body, not feeling the cold, threw it at him, turned, and ran.
I raced down the sloping grass, trying not to trip over my Louis Vuittons, that I only even put on because my feet were cold and I didn’t pack slippers.
The stiletto heels were slowing me down, but despite there being no snow on the ground, it was still a bitter, frosty night. Going barefoot was not an option.
“Rose, get back here,” he called, and I could hear the anger in his voice pushing me to run further, to run faster.
My lungs burned and my ankles struggled to keep upright in the heels, but I wasn’t about to turn back.
The hedge maze was barren, dead leaves crunching under every single step, but the dense twigs still provided some coverage. Surely, I could find somewhere in there to hide, or at the very least, it would slow him down and stop him from catching me. My hair was being whipped around by the frigid wind, getting in my eyes, making it that much harder for me to run.
“Rose,” he yelled again. His voice sounding closer.
No, I couldn’t let him catch me. There was no telling what he would do if he caught me.
I ran harder and when I looked back to see if he was behind me, my ankle twisted out from under me, and I went crashing to the ground with a scream.
“Rose!” he yelled again. This time there wasn’t anger in his voice, but fear.
I clamped my lips shut, trying to quiet the whimpering that was coming from my lips as I tried to move my ankle. With every movement, a sharp spike of pain shot up my leg and tears burned behind my eyes.
There was no way that I was going to run like this. I couldn’t get away. It was only a matter of time before he found me.
“Rose,” he said as he turned the corner and found me sprawled on the cold ground. “What did you do, you silly woman?” He knelt down at my side and picked up my shoe that now had the heel hanging off of it.
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath. Then he turned to face me. “Come on,” he said, offering me his hand. “It’s too dark for me to see anything out here. Let’s get you inside where it’s warm and then we’ll get you taken care of.”
“No,” I said.
“Rose, I won’t leave you out here to freeze to death.”