Total pages in book: 13
Estimated words: 12395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 62(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 41(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 62(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 41(@300wpm)
“Xavier!”
I attempt to run after him, but Dad stops me with a firm hand on my forearm.
“Let go of me!”
I shake him off, glaring.
“How dare you ruin this for me!”
“Excuse me?”
Dad faces me with a stony expression.
“The one good day in my life, the only day I get excited for, and you had to ruin it.”
I cross my arms and glare at him.
“Why do you think I’m so excited when Xavier comes here, Dad? It’s because he’s the only one who really loves me!”
“He doesn’t love you.”
Dad’s voice is tinged with disgust. I smirk, nodding with a sick sense of satisfaction.
“Well, then nobody does,” I hiss, running up the stairs.
He doesn’t call out after me and I’m not stupid enough to turn around and check if he’s watching me. I slam the door of my bedroom closed, hearing a guard step in place in front of my door.
Groaning, I slam my fist into a pink pillow. Then I hold it up against my mouth and scream into it as loudly as I can. It’s the only thing that helps me keep it together lately.
The knock on my door comes hours later. I’ve fallen asleep splayed on the bed and I rub my eyes, calling for whoever is outside to come in.
I expect Mathilda, but my parents stand on the doorstep with worried expressions.
“We need to talk about Xavier,” Mom says in a clipped tone.
“What about him?” I narrow my eyes at them both.
“Not everything is what it seems, Tallulah,” Dad mutters. “And it’s about time we told you the truth.”
I’m not Daddy’s little girl. Perhaps I never was, even though I craved it desperately. I chose darkness over the light. I followed Xavier to the depths of hell to be with him.
And I never broke my role, not once.
After all, a true magician never reveals their secrets.
Once mine comes out, it will be too late. Not just for Xavier, but for me, too...
One
XAVIER
2 years later
I know I should focus on the meeting, but my thoughts are once again with Tallulah.
Lately I’ve found my mind wandering to the girl more and more. It’s probably because her birthday is coming up, and because the last few years went by so catastrophically. After bringing a date with me to her fifteenth, her parents insisted we meet in public for her next birthday. I brought her plenty of gifts, but the whole thing was rushed as fuck and the first chance they got, Heath and Rain dragged their daughter away from me.
They’re getting more and more annoying with their shitty tactics devised to keep me away from Tallulah. I know they’re trying to get me to shift my attention somewhere else, but they’ll never succeed. My dark obsession with their daughter runs deep.
I clear my throat to force myself to return to reality. In the present, I’m sitting in an expensive leather seat at the head of a long conference table. Men who’ve helped me run the Scorpion cartel for years flank the table on each side. Their troubled eyes are on me, and I can tell my daydreaming hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I apologize,” I mutter. “Where were we?”
“We were discussing the matter of the Hydra cartel,” my second-in-command, Saul, mutters in my ear.
“Ah yes. Are they stirring up trouble again?”
“Not yet,” Saul shakes his head. “Though we’re worried they will do so if we don’t clearly let them know who owns the property where they’re doing their filthy work.”
“Fine,” I nod. “Send one of our sicarios to the address, along with a few more men. Scope out the place and kill anyone that crosses your path.”
“Won’t you be joining the fight, Xavier?”
I raise my eyes to meet those of my old business partner, Jimenez. The very one whose dick I tried to force Rain to cut off once. Unfortunately for Jimenez, he survived the ordeal, and came to work for me again. I know he hates me, but until now, he hasn’t defied me.
The man is old now, his hair white and his gut even bigger than it used to be. I still can’t stand him, but since he’s done good business for me, I have no reason to blow his brains out. It fucking annoys me.
“No, Jimenez,” I hiss at him, but his resentful eyes don’t miss mine.
“Too preoccupied with a woman yet again?” he snarls in Spanish.
Tallulah isn’t a woman in my eyes, not yet, but I don’t like where this is going either way.
“Why the fuck are you questioning me, Jimenez?” I demand, picking myself up from my chair. A guard reaches for his gun but I shake my head dismissively, making him pull back.
“Because I don’t trust you to run this cartel anymore,” Jimenez says. “You’ve only got eyes for that Tallulah girl and-“
“Don’t you dare say her name, pendejo,” I get out through gritted teeth.