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 swallow down the ache that’s forming in my chest. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t see me as an actual human being. It doesn’t matter than I’m just a warm hole to sink into.
When I finally leave this place and him behind with it, which I will, I won’t even blink. I won’t look back. Markus is a monster, and it’s time I stop trying to make this into a fairytale that it will never be. I need to stop trying to see the good in him, especially when there is none. There is just a massive black hole of nothing where his heart should be.
“If I don’t matter to you, then why did you kill that man the other night? Why didn’t you just let him go?” I fire back. What could possibly be his excuse?
Markus’s nostrils flare, and I swear he wants to murder me. The look in his eyes tells me he’s completely done with my shit. It’s a miracle I’ve made it as long as I have. I’d have run by now, but there’s something I need from him, and also, I don’t want to die.
“I killed him because, one, you’re mine. Two, I paid good money for you, and I don’t plan on wasting that money. Three, you’re fucking mine. He came here, showed up uninvited, intending to get close to you. He’s lucky that death was the only thing he got.” The possessive tone of his voice frightens me.
He really does only see me as an object and not a breathing, living person. Before I can speak another word, he’s stepping closer to me. I shrink back, but there isn’t anywhere to go.
“Let me ask you this. Would you still be speaking the same tune if I allowed him to touch you, hurt you? He could’ve been anyone. Could’ve come here to kill you, to kill us both. You think I’m the darkest monster in the forest?” He lets out a sad chuckle and looks away for a moment before looking back at me, his eyes hazy. “You have yet to see true darkness or pain. Those other girls that were bought at the auction, they’re going through a much worse fate than you ever will. Show some fucking gratefulness.”
My throat tightens, and my heart clenches in my chest at the thought.
Without a doubt, he is right, but I don’t want to admit it. The thought of comparing my situation to there’s… it seems wrong.
I’ve been trying to push away the memory of the other girls, the one who wasn’t sold, the one who was so scared. The one I couldn’t save… I grow silent, and my thoughts fester. I couldn’t save them, just like I can’t save myself.
There is no escaping the situation I’ve put myself in. There is no way out of this mess. I’m at a dead-end road with nowhere to go, and nobody is coming to save me.
10
Markus
As soon as the sun creeps through the blinds, I’m rolling out of bed. Like sleeping beauty, Fallon remains in a deep slumber, her blonde hair splayed out across the pillow, her pink pouty lips formed into almost a permanent frown. A frown I put there.
I want to trace her heart-shaped face with my fingers, to mesmerize the way it looks in this instant. Almost content. When awake, she is wary and afraid. As badly as I want to, I don’t allow myself the opportunity to do that. I’ve got shit to do.
Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I slip out of the bedroom and into the hall, closing the door behind me softly. Yesterday, I texted Felix the information about Christopher Wheeler, explaining everything I could about this whole fucked up situation. I want to know who sent him and why so I can piece the puzzle of who is looking for her together.
I tell myself I’m doing it to cover my bases, but deep down, I know it’s more than that. I want to know who is looking for her and why? How did they know she was here? Is she in danger from something other than me? Then there is the irrational jealous side of me that wants to know everything about her, so I can kill any fucker that touched her before me.
As if he’s reading my mind, my cell buzzes in my hand, and when I look down, I see restricted flashing across the screen. Only one person calls me restricted.
“You got anything?” I answer gruffly, moving a few steps away from the door. I’m not ready to let Fallon know that I’m trying to figure out who she really is. She’ll find out when I’m good and ready.
No matter what she tells me, it still feels like she’s hiding something, and I’m going to figure it out for myself.