Series: The Moretti Crime Family Series by J.L. Beck
Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 111428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
I’m not alone. I’m not in the cell. I keep telling myself until I’m calm again. Ironically, I’m not much safer now, but somehow it feels safer. I guess after being isolated and alone, even the company of a criminal is better than nothing.
Wiggling my body a few inches, I try to get comfortable enough to go to sleep, but the movement only makes it worse. I wonder if he would consider restraining me in a different way?
“Is there any way you could loosen the rope?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“No,” he answers gruffly.
A moment of silence passes between us, and another million-dollar question is burning on the edge of my tongue. Like the idiot I am, I ask, “Don’t you want… you know, to have sex?”
He sighs, almost as if he’s annoyed by my presence, which makes no sense to me. He bought me to have me here, and yet he is annoyed that I’m speaking or even alive, it seems.
“Not tonight, but don’t worry, soon you’ll be on your back, begging and pleading for me to stop. Now, if you’re smart, you’ll shut up and go to sleep.”
I don’t ask any more dumb questions after that. My eyes drift closed, and I force myself to go to sleep. I’m tired, exhausted as hell. Problem is, I’m too damn uncomfortable and scared to even think about sleeping.
Minutes pass slowly, and I’m about to beg him to untie me, anything to ease the ache in my shoulders, but I don’t.
That thought is slowly being washed away and replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling spreading through my veins. The pain in my limbs eases, slowly seeping out like venom until it’s completely gone. Weightless like a cloud, I think my body might float away into the night sky. Only for a brief moment do I realize I shouldn’t be feeling this way.
I should be scared and in pain, but I’m none of those things.
“What did you give me?” I mumble, but I’m not sure if the words actually come out right.
“Go to sleep,” he growls, without an explanation. And this time, I do.
4
Markus
The sun peeks through the curtains, and for a long moment, I simply lie there. It’s been so long since I allowed myself the pleasure of sleeping next to another person. Not in a sexual way, but in the physical sense of being next to someone. In fact, I hardly ever sleep, and yet I did just that last night. For the first time in years, I fell asleep and didn’t wake from a nightmare.
I’m not sure why, but I would pin it on having everything to do with the petite woman lying beside me. Gently, I roll over, paying careful attention to my movements. I don’t want her to wake yet, as I still need to call and hear what my brother has found out.
With ease, I lift my head from my pillow and let my gaze roam over her body. I felt a slight flicker of guilt over giving her the pill last night, but I wasn’t sure I could handle her fighting me. Plus, her head and arms must have been aching, and I know the pill took all of that away, giving her a moment of reprieve.
The pajamas she’s wearing might hide her body well, but I know what is concealed beneath already, and I cannot unsee it. Carnal need hits me like a bull directly in the groin.
A strand of her spun gold hair tickles my skin. I’m unsure why, but I lean into her, wanting to bury my nose in her hair. Inhale her scent. It’s wrong. She isn’t of grave importance to me, and there is no way Fallon is her, but I still want to breathe her in. Even if it’s just pretend.
My nostrils flare as I inhale deeply. Just as I had assumed. She smells clean, like soap and something else. A faint scent of lavender catches in my nose, and I inhale her a little deeper, wanting to taste her on my tongue and feel her wiggle beneath my body.
Fuck. I chalk it up to being forever since I’ve gotten laid, and that’s why I’m so drawn to her, and she looks just like her—a spitting image. I remind myself instantly that she isn’t Victoria. She is dead, gone, and all because of me.
Easing away from Fallon and forcing distance between us, I shift off the bed, and it creaks beneath my weight. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I cast one last glance over my shoulder before walking out of the room. Quietly, I close the door behind me.
There isn’t anywhere she can go, not while she’s tied up in my bed. Heading into the kitchen, I make my morning coffee. The house remains stocked at all times, the pantry full, and the house ready to live in with little notice in case there is ever a need to come here right away.