Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“She’s not riding anytime soon,” Stellan said.
Maeme frowned at him.
“Not for the time being, Maeme,” he told her pointedly.
I thought she was going to argue, but she simply nodded her head and took another bite of her food. Maybe Maeme didn’t boss them all around after all. It seemed like Stellan was the one in control right now. Was it because I was staying on his property with King?
“I have a horse for each of my American Girls. And stables!” Birdie told me excitedly, bringing my attention back to her.
“I would be disappointed if you didn’t,” I replied honestly.
She stuck a piece of sausage in her mouth and grinned as she chewed it.
A strange sense settled over me as I scanned the people in the room. There was something here…something I didn’t know. A connection that went beyond owning businesses together. It was deeper than blood. Stronger than a bond of family. There was a hierarchy. Even if they didn’t make it clear, I could suddenly see it. I just didn’t understand it. What was it that I was missing? What made them what they were?
• thirty-five •
“As if I were his marionette doll, I did exactly what he wanted.”
Rumor
After King took me to the Shephards’ library, he brought me back to his room and left me with my new books. He had some work to handle. I never got details on what it was he was doing, but was it my business? Not really. But I wanted to know. I wanted to know all the things about him. Not to mention, the more I was left in the dark, the more my imagination went into overdrive.
The three large shopping bags of Lela’s clothes that Annette had given me sat on the bed. King had assured me Lela wouldn’t mind and would be glad they were going to someone who could use them. Apparently, she had three full walk-in closets at home, and she didn’t even live there most of the time. Needing something to do since reading wasn’t distracting me, I began to unpack the bags.
Jeans, shorts, tops, dresses, skirts—all designer, and most still had tags on them. This was more than generous. Why wouldn’t they have taken the clothes back to the store if she wasn’t going to wear them? It seemed wasteful…but then they had given them to me. They wanted someone to use them.
Slipping off the sundress I had worn to breakfast, I laid it on the bed, and I began to try on things. I didn’t want to keep something if it didn’t fit, although most appeared to be my size. Once I had on a pair of pink shorts and a ruffled white tank top, I went to the bathroom to look in the full-length mirror.
I turned several times, admiring how nice it looked. Hill had bought me clothing that he thought was appropriate for me, but never anything this expensive. The tag on the top said it was over seven hundred dollars. I felt guilty about taking the tags off. It was more than I needed. I wasn’t sure the rest of my life wouldn’t be me hiding out. Where was I gonna wear clothes that cost this much?
When I walked back into the bedroom, my mood sank as reality managed to seep back in. I took off the shorts and top and folded them neatly on the bed before taking out a short, colorful skirt that also had a tag on it. I tried not to look as I set it down and reached in to find a top to go with it.
The door behind me opened, and I covered my bare breasts before I spun around to see King stepping inside. His eyes slowly traveled down my body.
“I was coming to get something,” he said, closing the door behind him without taking his eyes off me. “But looks like I’ll be a little longer than I anticipated.”
He stalked toward me and grabbed my wrists, pulling them away from my body. “Don’t cover your tits.”
I realized I was panting as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged it over his head and dropped it to the ground. His hands went to the zipper of his jeans. “Turn around and put your hands on the dresser. I don’t have much time, but after this view, I need to fuck you if I’m gonna get anything else done.”
I’d told myself I wasn’t going to have sex with him again today. We had to stop doing so much of it. I was finding it hard to not feel things when I looked at him, and I was blaming it on all the sex. He was a man, and I had thought I’d never let another touch me again after Hill. But King had changed a lot. He had taught me that I could trust again. That not all men were cruel.