Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I sit up and turn, pulling the sheet up over my body. These people are out of their minds. I know that woman didn’t just let him into my home.
“You need to get out,” I growl.
I level him with a glare of death. If looks could kill I would finish him like a game of Mortal Kombat. Yet what he does next is not at all what I asked him to.
* * *
Princeton
She will listen to me this time. I’m not leaving until she does. I loosen my tie, then shrug out of my coat, tossing it into the chair in the corner of her bedroom.
The glare on her face matches my own. She claims to love me, but she doesn’t know me well enough to know I would never do anything to hurt her.
“Name one time that I’ve hurt you, Cinder. Just one,” I say as I come out of my suit jacket and toss it with my other things. “Tell me when I haven’t done all I can to take care of you and your needs.”
She pokes her lip out and folds her arms over her chest. She still has those cute little braids in. If I weren’t so pissed at her, I’d think she was adorable.
“Right now, if you continue to strip from your clothes in my home, I promise I’m going to hurt you,” she says, her words dripping with venom.
“I like this side of you. Even though you’re bullheaded and won’t listen.”
“Okay, I’ll humor you. You have five minutes. Starting now.”
“I had no idea Coraline lived across the hall from you. Your grandfather sent her in search of you. She’s the one who tugged my mother’s attention and pointed her in the right direction to find you.”
“I was the last to know who you were. I figured it out when I first heard your name. While we were looking for you here, it seems your mother had already passed on and you were traveling the world.”
“It should have been easy to find a girl named Cinder, but it wasn’t,” I say as I come out of my shoes.
“I didn’t start using my real name until a few years ago. Cindy is on all of my paperwork,” she murmurs.
“Figures. Your parents didn’t want to be found because my mother’s brother was a bastard and he threatened them and you behind everyone’s back. My parents, nor your grandparents, had any clue of what really happened.”
“Your parents clearly didn’t know my uncle acted alone or the fact that he met with an unfortunate accident not long after they fled.”
“I had no idea what the reason was for your family’s actions which is why, until I figured it out, I didn’t want to tell you any of this. I thought I could keep your presence a secret. It was stupid of me to take you out in London.”
“It took them all of two days to figure out who you were. You are the spitting image of your mother. Which is the reason I rushed you back to Verlez and tried to keep you there while I got all the details.”
“Details? What else don’t I know?”
“Your mother left you Heathworth for your home. Your grandmother and grandfather wish to see you return home. They stay in a small manor not that far from Château Heathworth, hoping for your return.”
“When they received word that you had arrived at Heathworth and were indeed in Europe, they made their way to Heathworth and are waiting there for you. You are to be crowned princess. Right before our engagement party,” he says pointedly.
“Oh.” Her mouth falls open. “So… you weren’t going to dump me?” she says in a small voice.
“No,” I say as I start to stalk my way up the bed toward her, nude. “I went to London with my mother to have my grandmother’s ring sized for you. I planned to propose when I returned the following evening.”
I get nose to nose with her and tilt my head to the side. Then I continue. “However, I was awakened in the middle of the night to be told that my woman, my princess, the woman I love was gone. You left me, Cinder. Now, how should I punish you?”
“Punish me?”
“Yes. You love it when I spank you, so that’s out of the question.” I lick my lips.
I’m going to devour her, and from the way her brown eyes dilate, she knows it.
* * *
Cinder
His blue eyes darken. He’s so close his breath fans my lips and I can see every color and change in his orbs. As I lock gazes with him, I feel kind of stupid. I made a lot of assumptions and I was wrong about them all.
“There’s no other princess?” I say sheepishly.
“No, baby.” He shakes his head. “It has only been you. I didn’t call the ball off sooner because I was putting the pieces together and I enjoyed watching you plan while I got to spend time with you.”