Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
She's already proven to me once that she's ruthless. She has been trained to kill me. And even though we had a special connection, she never went back on her family's wishes. I only realized it when she plunged the blade into my shoulder. When she poisoned me, Tallulah had the intent of killing me, I have no doubt about that. And now here I am ready to save her, even though what I should be doing is plunging the knife into her traitorous heart myself.
But I don't think I have it in me to kill Tallulah Gunn. I don't think I can live with myself if I kill her... not now. Our story's not done yet. And I have so much love to teach her, except now, my lessons aren't going to be as enjoyable for her as they once were.
It's going to be a lesson in pain, humility and love. These are all the things I have left to teach her. I silently make a resolution with myself, promising myself not to give up and not to stop until I make Tallulah convinced she's my beloved toy and nothing else. She will not plead allegiance to anyone else. She will not be part of any other cartel. From the moment she was born, she's belonged to me, the leader of the Scorpion cartel. The very one who stole his rightful throne, first from my brother, and then from the family I forced myself into.
But now it's too late to worry about any of that. All that's left to do is for me to enter the room and come face to face with the girl who tried to end my life.
Just then, another car pulls up in the golden grass a little way off the shed. Several men pile out, and my eyes instantly focus on Saul who approaches me with a troubled expression.
"Is she in there?" he asks.
Even his own voice is shaking and anticipating something terrible once we walk into that shed. I don't know what to say. I just stare at him with an unrelenting expression, silently trying to convey how afraid I am of going in the room. I don't admit I'm afraid, ever. But right now... she's made me fucking helpless.
"I'll come with you," he says, placing his hand on the door, but I shake my head.
"I need to do this alone," I say.
"You need a gun, at least," he says, "Maybe she isn't alone in there."
"You worried about me, Saul?" I chuckle. "Do you think anyone's capable of hurting the don of the Scorpion cartel? Anyone who gets a good look at me will soon realize they have no business mixing themselves up with me. Tallulah's mine. And that's always the way it's been. I'm not going to let any other man have her."
"Take it."
Saul ignores me, pushing a gun into my hands.
"Kill them if you have to. If you have no other choice. But remember, Xavier, any member of a cartel you kill could be the reason for us to start a new war. Are you ready to start a war over Tallulah?"
I smirk at him. There is nothing for me to say. We both know that I'm ready to kill, maim and hurt people to get what I want. If it means starting a war with an imposing cartel, so fucking be it. There is nowhere else to go but inside, to meet the love of my life and to punish her for all the things she's done to me over the years.
Chapter 12
My heart is pounding and I feel scared, more so than ever.
I feel his presence in the room, knowing deep down that he's in here with me. I can smell him, feel him close by. But I'm too afraid to say anything or acknowledge his presence. From the moment the door opened, I knew he was here, his smoldering scent leaving an electrifying shiver going down my spine as he came closer to me.
Xavier hasn't touched me, and my body anticipates the reaction once his skin meets meets mine, but he doesn't make a move to do it. He doesn't reach out for me. Doesn't make any attempt of bringing me closer to him. He just lets me sit on the floor on my knees, my hands handcuffed behind my back, and a hood over my head. The only way I know it's him is by his scent, and the inescapable need I feel to be closer to him, even though I know he probably hates me more more than ever.
"It's been a long time, angel," Xavier says in a dark voice tinged with sadness.
I shiver, and I can tell he notices, because a growl escapes his lips as he watches me in my predicament. I want to tell him to go away so I can continue living my life the way I have been, by my own rules. But I say nothing of the sort. I feel the hood being taken off, but I don't open my eyes, refusing to look at him and refusing to admit all the terrible things I've done to him in our relationship.