Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Hi, Bella.”
I don’t miss there isn’t the same warmth between them that Bella has with my family. I’ve never picked up on that in the past. Bethany was the one I was concerned with as Bella’s mother. The door closes and Kaling starts in.
“My daughter has been in the ground for all of, what? Four and a half weeks. Twenty-six excruciating days,” he chokes the last part out. “Who is that woman you’re playing house with? You have Bella sitting in here as if her mother is forgotten filth beneath your shoe.”
I close the distance between us before I can hold myself back. I get right in his face and look down at him like the scum I’ve come to know him as.
“I believe you’ve forgotten who the fuck I am. Who I spend my time with is none of your fucking business. You’ve come to pick up your granddaughter. Shut the fuck up and do that,” I seethe.
“I will not forgive this. You…you know what happened to Bethany. You’re behind this somehow. I will not rest until—”
“You can rest with your daughter if you like,” Gio says as Jace holds a gun to the back of Kaling’s head.
“I never should have gotten her involved with your family. That was my mistake,” Kaling says as his eyes fill with tears.
“Spare me the show. I don’t know what you planned to gain, but you had a motive for pushing our marriage. You can go. Jace, will you accompany Bella? She is to return home this evening. There will be no sleepover,” I say sternly.
“You will deny me this?”
“Until you show you can be trusted, this is how it will be. You want to spend time with Bella, she will have an escort. Again, take some time to remind yourself who you’re dealing with.”
“Oh, and so we’re clear. I know nothing about what happened that night. Direct your attention and ire elsewhere. I never cheated on my wife. I’m respecting her memory even now, although I know for a fact she was having an affair. Find out who she was fucking, he may be the one with the answers you’re looking for.”
I tug at my cuff and move back around my desk to have a seat. Jace sees Kaling out and I sit back in my chair, stippling my fingers in front of my mouth.
“I told you he was going to be an issue,” I say as Gio closes the door behind Kaling and Jace. “He’s been calling and asking a million questions.”
“I heard you when you said it. It’s why Jace and I were awaiting his arrival today. I had a feeling you would need to make your message clear.”
“What now?”
“You finish your day, get ready for your trip. Leave the rest to me.”
I purse my lips and nod. My temper still simmering right beneath the surface. I work my jaw and seethe. The nerve.
Chapter 21
Travel & Stress
Dante
I push the door open slowly. Steam rolls out of the bathroom as I step in. I know I should turn around, but it’s as if I’m being pulled into the room by an invisible force.
Lizzy’s scent fills my nostrils. I lick my lips and move toward the shower. The glass is fogged, I can only make out her silhouette. I reach for my shaft and palm it. She’s been enticing me for weeks.
Those blouses that stretch across her breasts. Her fat ass. The way she looks up into my eyes. I only want a taste. One taste and I’ll be able to get this under control.
“Dante,” she gasps over her shoulder as I open the shower door and step in behind her. I reach for her arms and pin them to the wall in front of her.
“Don’t you know how much I want you?” I say in her ear as I glide my palms down her wet arms.
She pants and shakes her head. I allow my hands to keep traveling down her body until I palm her fat mound. Her whimper is like sweet music to my ears.
I kick her feet apart to widen her stance slightly. She pushes her ass back into me, bumping into my erection. I bite down on her shoulder as I push two fingers into her wet heat.
“Dante,” she moans.
I groan as I work my fingers in and out of her. I lose all focus as I thrust into her and her tight walls suck me in. I grab her throat and pump my hips into her, going as deep as I can at this angle.
“Daddy, Daddy,” I pop up, startled from the heated dream. I’ve been having them more often than not.
“Bella, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” I say through my sleep-heavy voice.
God, I’m exhausted. Meeting after meeting for six weeks, compounded with the travel and lack of sleep. I rub at my eyes as Bella flings herself onto my chest.