Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
“So,” Silvan says, stretching out his arm on the seat behind me and making himself comfortable. “How is your first day of kidnapping?”
I nod as if considering. “Not bad. Definitely thought it would feel more murdery, but aside from all the blackmail and blatant coercion of yesterday, uh, yeah… been a pretty good experience. I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend—if I had any—but I’d probably come again.”
Silvan grins, grabbing my neck and pulling me in so he can kiss my smart mouth. “You’re the best, you know that?”
I can’t bite back a smile as I settle into his side after the kiss. “So you keep telling me. Keep it up and you’re gonna give me a big head.”
He kisses the crown of my head. “Your head can get as big as it needs to. I’m not gonna stop hyping up my girl.”
I shake my head, but I feel warm and happy all over. “You’re very different from the guys I’ve known before.”
He leans close. “Babe, you said ‘better’ wrong.”
I laugh, and he smiles. I shake my head because he’s crazy, but I like when he’s playful like this.
Today really feels like a day out with a guy I like. Definitely not how I saw today going yesterday, but Silvan is so easy to be with.
I mean, batshit crazy, but pretty excellent company. I don’t even like people, but I can’t deny I enjoy hanging out with him.
While I’m lost in my thoughts about the surprising good time I’m having with him, his thoughts seem to be on later.
“My dad will be home for dinner tonight, so we’ll eat with my parents again. That cool with you?”
My smile fades, but I nod. “Yeah.”
“I know you didn’t have the best time at breakfast. Sorry about him.”
I don’t know quite what to say. We haven’t talked about it. We got a little distracted once we got in the car earlier.
“Your father is…” I pause, searching for a polite term to use.
“Traditional?” Silvan offers.
“Terrifying.”
He cracks a smile. “Yeah, he can be a bit scary.”
“He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“When he looks at me, he sees Little Orphan Annie dressed in rags with a panhandling cup in one hand and a pitchfork in the other.”
He smirks. “He’s just protective of his family, that’s all.”
My eyes widen. “He can’t possibly think I’m a gold-digger. I didn’t even choose to be here!”
“It’s not about that. He doesn’t think you’re a gold-digger; he probably just thinks what he said, that our lifestyle might be a little… not what you’re used to.”
“I’ve never met a rich person with so much disdain for the less financially fortunate.”
Silvan cocks an eyebrow. “How many rich people have you met?”
My mouth opens, then closes. “Well… none. But my guess is some are much less snobby about it.”
He smiles faintly, shaking his head. “It’s not as simple as him having an issue with you not having money. It’s how much money my family has. I know you probably don’t understand, but it puts us in a different league than most people. We’re not ‘I bought a Ferrari’ rich. We’re ‘one of my yachts has a dirty helipad, maybe I should buy a new one’ rich.”
I squint at him because the levels of wealth might be more than I can grasp having just brushed with it for the first time.
“It’s stupid,” he assures me. “It’s nothing to worry about. Like I said, we’ll take all the necessary precautions to make sure there are no problems. He’s just putting you through your paces, that’s all. Feeling you out to make sure you’re sturdy enough to make it in my family.”
My lips form a pout. I’ve never wanted someone I dislike so vehemently to approve of me so much. “I’m plenty sturdy.”
Silvan smirks, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I know you are,” he murmurs against my lips. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks anyway. It only matters what I think, and I’m intent on keeping you for the long haul.”
He says that so casually, just like he said the pregnancy thing earlier. Like he doesn’t realize it’s a lot, like it doesn’t even cross his mind that it may be less assuring and more frightening to a girl who has just come around to admitting I don’t hate his company today.
Maybe marriage and kids and all that seems easy to him because of the peculiar example of happiness his parents seem to have set, but that’s not how it is for most people. It’s certainly not how it was for my parents or any couple I’ve ever met.
Maybe having money makes things easier, but surely it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Plenty of rich people go through marriages like some people go through cars, ditching the old one as soon as it doesn’t run like it’s new anymore and trading up to a shinier model.