Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Anger seeps into my marrow when I think about what that asshole wanted to do to her. He was a Draconi soldier. A sworn enemy to the De Kysa. The eagle tattoo I saw a few seconds before I planted a bullet in his skull told me he was aligned with the Draconi family. Knowing the Draconi are in town is bad news.
Which is another reason my mood is so palpable.
It’s almost dark when we pull into the underground garage. I climb out, but Bella doesn’t move. Instead, she forces herself as far into the corner of the limousine as possible as if it can protect her. Like anything can protect her from me. I walk around the car and open the door beside her, shoving my hand into the car for her to take. But to my annoyance, she doesn’t.
“Bella,” I growl.
She looks up, and another infinitesimal piece of my anger melts when I see the look of fear on her face.
Somewhere inside me, a dormant part of my heart kicks its first beat in more than ten years, and I have to swallow back the sudden need to lift her in my arms and soothe her.
But she doesn’t need soothing. She needs to know that fighting me will only put her life in danger. She needs to do as I say. This is her life now. She will be my wife, and me wrapping my arms around her and wiping her tears will not help.
“Take my hand,” I demand.
Reluctantly, she reaches for it, and I help her out of the car.
We walk in stone-cold silence toward the elevator, but I can feel the storm brewing with every footstep, and I don’t doubt that once we reach the privacy of the penthouse, our storms will collide violently.
In the quiet of the elevator, I steal a look at her. Her blonde wig came off in the struggle, and her wild red curls fall unchecked around her polished shoulders.
Her curls have always fascinated me. As a young man falling in love, I had loved her hair, the color, the scent, the softness of it as I buried my face into it when we made love.
Now I picture wrapping thick strands around my wrists as I fuck her violently against the wall.
My cock stirs, and not for the first time tonight. She might be the bane of my existence, but she effortlessly turns me on.
The door to the elevator opens, and I wait for her to walk through, which she does, but she stops just as I step into the apartment and turns around to slap me hard across the face.
I have to hand it to her. Not too many people can get the jump on me like that, and if they do, it usually ends with me putting a bullet somewhere in their body.
“That’s for dragging me into this despicable world of yours,” she fumes, her words shaded with anger.
I grab her wrist and yank her to me. “You will do well to remind yourself of who you are dealing with, cara mia.”
“How could I forget,” she seethes, “when it’s burned into my day-to-day life like a horror story.”
“Do you have the faintest idea of what that Draconi soldier was going to do to you if I hadn’t shown up? He wasn’t just going to violate you in the most despicable, ugliest way. No, once he’d finished defiling and torturing you, he was going to cut you up into tiny little pieces and send them to me, piece by piece, as a fucking Christmas present.”
If it’s possible, her face pales even more. “You knew him?”
“The tattoo on his neck belonged to the Draconi.” I pull her to me so she’s tight against my chest and glare down at her. “This town is crawling with my enemies, Bella, and now you are in their crosshairs.”
“Thanks to you and your disgusting blackmail.”
I squeeze her wrist. “They will hurt you every chance they get. Whether you like it or not, I am your best protection, so stop fucking fighting me.”
“I’d rather die than live in this fucking gilded cage.”
“Not the way they would kill you, you don’t. The Draconi take pride in their sadistic creativity.” When I think about what almost happened, I feel real fear. “Consider your freedom to come and go as you please revoked.”
“You can’t do that,” she cries.
“Don’t you get it, Bella? You’re a target now.”
Fear flashes in her eyes and I want to take that fear and set fucking fire to it.
Another dormant part of my heart awakens and I let her go with a growl.
I cross the room to pour a drink and throw it back in one mouthful.
When I pour a second, Bella appears beside me and snatches it from me. Her wild eyes fix on mine as she raises the glass to her lips and hungrily devours the scotch.