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)
By the time I’m done in the shower, I’m prepared to have to chase Fallon down buck-ass naked, but I’m surprised to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, right where I left her. Her azure eyes move upward, drinking me in, and my cock twitches against my leg… She’s a siren, and I’m drawn into her compelling gaze.
She passed. She had the chance to run, and she didn’t. There is a small jolt of pleasure coursing through my body at that realization. I want her to trust me and for me to trust her. It’s stupid for me to want her trust, or for her to even trust me, but I want it, nonetheless.
I dry off and get dressed in some sweats.
“Let’s go eat dinner,” I declare, and like a toy soldier, she jumps to her feet.
“You acted like you expected me to run away,” Fallon whispers.
“That’s because I did.”
Fallon’s gaze falls. Maybe she thought I’d started to trust her, but I haven’t. If she is smart, she will run the first chance she gets because if I have it my way, she’ll never be free of me.
She climbs into the bed and extends her arms out to me.
I grab the rope from the nightstand and wrap it around her wrists so it’s binding but not digging into her skin. I still don’t trust that she isn’t going to make a run for it.
“I’m not going to run. If I was going to, I would’ve already.”
I look up from her wrists and at her heart-shaped face. Her eyes look like little sapphire jewels. “This is for your protection, not mine.”
“What do you mean?”
Pushing on her shoulder, I ease her back against the pillow. Her face is still a mask of confusion and remains that way as I pull the blanket up, shut the light off, and nestle into the spot beside her. I toss my arm over her middle and spoon her, molding us together like clay. She sucks a sharp, almost fearful breath into her lungs. She reminds me of a spooked horse right now, willing and ready to fight. She won’t win this battle, though.
After a moment, she settles against me, the tension in her body seeping outward. A second later, she clears her throat.
“What did you mean, Markus?”
For a moment, I contemplate not telling her. It will only scare her more, pushing her further away from me, which is the last thing I want. I want her to trust me, to need me, but I also need to make it apparent what happens to her if she betrays me or crosses the line.
Burying my face into her hair, I inhale deeply. Her scent calms me and makes me wonder if I can do better, be better. It’s nonsense to think such a thing. I’ve been a stone-cold killer since Julian’s father asked me to work for him. Some five-foot, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman isn’t going to sway me away from that life.
I’m a monster. That’s all I’ll ever be, all I want to be.
Our differences don’t stop the possessive need, though, nor do they make me want her any less. Holding her tighter, I find her ear and press my lips to her thundering pulse beneath it. I kiss the sensitive flesh, wanting to do so much more than that.
“In a way, it protects you because if you were to get away from me, all bets are off. You are mine, and not only will I kill anyone who tries to take you away from me, but I will also punish you severely for trying to leave.”
Silence, aside from our shallow breaths, surrounds us. I hate myself for the things I’m going to do and the things I’ve already done, but even if I could go back in time, I would do it all again. This is who I am.
“Does that mean the only way out of this is death?” Her voice is so low, it’s almost a whisper. A lump suddenly develops in my throat.
She still believes that there is a way out of this?
“It means there is no way out.”
My response might be cruel, but it’s the truth. Fallon will never escape me. She became ensnared in my web, sealing her fate in my life the moment she walked across that stage and met my steely gaze.
13
Fallon
I can’t believe how nice he has been to me. As nice as it can get, considering he bought and uses my body as he pleases. He might be controlling, careless, completely insane, and unreasonable, but at least he isn’t unnecessarily cruel to me. Yet.
He feeds me, dresses me, and lets me sleep in the bed. He doesn’t hurt me physically, and he treats me like a human. I’ve been thinking about the other girls a lot during the last few days, even though I try not to because of the way guilt and shame make me feel.