Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“No. I mean, I don’t think so.” I stare back at him, fighting the panic. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Relax. Get comfortable. Take a shower or something, I don’t know. Watch TV. Renzo will be home later and you guys can figure it out then.”
I can tell he wants to get away. I have a million more questions—how is this situation supposed to work? Am I sleeping in this bed with Renzo or somewhere else? How am I getting to work in the morning?—but Dante’s already shifting out into the hall and closing the door behind him.
“What the hell,” I whisper, staring at the completely foreign room, before sinking down into the nook. I pull my knees to my chest and force myself to get comfortable as I try to make sense of my situation.
I accepted his proposal, which means I’m going to be his wife. But we’re not married yet, and I was under the impression I’d have some time to get used to the idea. Instead, I was just whisked away to the edge of the city, deep into some freaking forest that shouldn’t exist, and locked in a gorgeous fantasy room. Now I’m expected to wait for my fake husband’s return.
Before I can stop myself, I do what I always do when I’m in a bad situation and can’t think of a way out: I grab my phone and call Nicole.
She answers on the second ring. “Hello, lovely lady, did you crave the sound of my voice?”
“Nicole, listen to me,” I say, whispering for some reason. “I’m in Renzo Rossi’s bedroom.”
There’s a short silence. Then she laughs. “That’s your boss, right? Yeah, and I’m with the queen. She’s back from the dead just to have tea with me.”
“I’m not joking. This is serious.”
She does a really bad fake English accent. “Yes, darling, I’m quite sure you’re being serious. Elizabeth sends her best regards.”
“Would you stop? I’m freaking out. I think I made a really, really bad mistake.”
Another short silence. The accent’s gone when she says, “Okay, you don’t sound like you’re making this up, and you are a really shitty actress.”
“I’m not lying.” I rub my face with one hand and resist the urge to get up and pace around. I don’t know who’s downstairs, and I don’t want anyone to hear me move around. Stay small, stay quiet. “Remember when he called me into the office that Saturday?”
“Uh, yeah, and you left me hanging and never came back. And you still haven’t apologized.”
“Sorry. I’m so sorry. But he made me this crazy offer, and I sort of… accepted it today.”
“What kind of crazy offer? Oh, god, don’t tell me you’re doing a weird sex thing with your boss. Is this a domination kink? Actually, scratch that, tell me all about your sexy dominant boss.”
“No, it’s not that. Actually, yes, it’s sort of that, but way, way worse.”
She sounds a little nervous. “Worse than domination? Are you doing some weird foot fetish thing?”
“I agreed to marry him and now I’m moving into his house.”
Another long silence. I can hear her radio on in the background playing some Top 40 pop song I vaguely recognize. Sweat beads down my back.
“Okay, hon, I’m going to assume you haven’t snapped and lost your mind here, so please explain what’s going on.”
I take a deep breath before spilling it all. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell anyone, but this is Nicole, and I can’t handle this on my own. Not without talking to someone. And anyway, she doesn’t know Renzo and she’s not involved with his world, whatever the hell that means.
“Can you see why I’m freaking out?”
“I take it back. You have snapped. Mark went all snake cult, and now you’re about to marry a freaking mobster.”
I let out a shrill laugh. “Mobster? Renzo? He just owns a real estate investment business, and I guess he’s from old money too, and—” But the more I talk, the more it starts to make sense.
A cold horror washes over my body.
“No, you’re wrong,” I say but I can’t be sure. “He’s scary, but he’s not—he’s not dangerous.”
But I think of the cameras around the perimeter of the house. I think of Dante in his dark suit and the tattoos on his neck. I think of the money flowing through that office, and the strange deals that never quite made sense to me, and the myriad other little details that don’t add up.
Mafia. Gangster. Organized crime.
And if Renzo’s so desperate for legitimacy and an heir, that must mean—
A woman’s scream makes me jump off the bench, the phone clattering to the floor.
Chapter 14
Maddie
My heart’s pounding so hard I feel dizzy. Sweat breaks out across my body. The scream happens again, frighteningly close. I bend over and snatch the phone. “Sorry, I gotta go, I’ll call again soon.”