Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
The princess of the Upper West Side, and I, her dutiful knight.
But that was then, before her family ruined mine.
Now, I hate Devlynn Price and everything she stands for.
The upper crust of New-York Society hiding behind their masks adorned with riches they don’t deserve.
Five years later, she’s standing in front of me, willing to provide me with the perfect alibi.
This time, she won’t get to walk away.
This time, I was going to get my revenge.
A dish served cold from a heart that she has broken.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Elis
“Hey!” The old man’s voice interrupted the last slash of red on brick. “I’m calling the police this time, you little punk!”
I released the trigger of the spray, and drips of paint bled between the cracks of the brick in angry rivulets.
Not perfect, but it’d have to be for tonight.
I shot one last look at the shop owner, thrusting the phone in his hand toward me as he yelled at the top of his lungs. I took off around the corner of Fifth Avenue at a full jog, crossing the street—and lost myself in the overgrowth of Central Park.
I could still hear his angry voice shouting from the corner.
I didn’t blame him.
I’d been working on that piece for the last three nights. I was surprised he hadn’t painted over the current work in progress—a fist wrapped in barbed wire with red splashes meant to symbolize consumer oppression.
I hovered at the path inside the treeline and outside the nearest streetlamp. The truth was, I liked watching the angry man spit nails as much as I liked making the art on his brand-new brick wall.
Graffiti on the corner of 59th and 5th, the heart of uptown shopping, was never looked kindly upon.
And then I heard the siren.
A vicious grin twisted my face as I launched the spray cans into the garbage at my side before I hustled the other way along the path deeper into the park.
“Shit!”
A hot beverage soaked my shirt as my eyes cast up.
“I’m so, so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’ve had the worst fucking day. I shouldn’t even be around people right now.” Her hand launched out to wipe my black shirt with a recycled napkin.
I caught her dainty hands, halting them before she could make contact. “Stop,” I gritted.
Her head was still bent, and fat, ugly tears rolled down the planes of her creamy cheeks. “I said I was sorry.”
“So that makes you entitled to my forgiveness? Think again, rich girl.” I glanced over my shoulder to see a cop car slowing at the curb. It stopped at the path we were on, eyes nailed on us.
“Shit,” I breathed, realizing this would look bad if I took off running now. I was as good as caught red-handed.
“Elis?” Her voice sucked in a breath of air at my shoulder. “Elis Brooks?”
I clenched my jaw so damn tight that it physically hurt. The cop was walking toward us now, eyes on me, and I could only pray he hadn’t heard this fucking meek little thing utter my real name.
“Evenin’, kids.” The middle-aged officer stopped short of us. “Pretty late to be out in the park.” His voice trailed off, forming a question. When neither of us answered, he shuffled on his feet, throwing a nod over his shoulder to the shop owner, still talking to himself on the corner as he tried to watch. “Any chance you may have seen anything…suspicious?”
I could see him taking me in, trying to determine if I was the criminal he was looking for or just another waste of his time.
I cleared my throat, thrusting a hand through my dark hair and about to make up some excuse about the night shift when little miss meek threaded her fingers in mine. A tremor of disdain rushed through me before her tiny voice spoke up.
“We haven’t seen anything, Officer. My boyfriend here thought a stroll through the park at night would be romantic until I spilled coffee on us and…” She rolled her eyes, bouncing her shoulder into mine like we’d known each other for ages.
“Hm.” The officer’s gaze hovered at her hand clasped with mine, a cloyingly sweet smile decorating her face as she rocked back and forth in her designer boots. “Well, stick to the well-lit areas. There have been reports of an uptick in crime around here this late at night.” He shoved a hand into his back pocket and pulled a card out, passing it to her. “Please, call me personally if you see anything that stands out.”
His eyes lingered long and hard, and I physically restrained myself from kicking his arrogant fucking teeth in.
I’d only been adding a little artwork to the face of one of the fine establishments on Fifth. This guy was visibly eye-fucking a strange woman at night under the guise of law and order.