Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Gemma
Itug the bottom of my dress down and take a breath, trying to get myself under control as I approach the keypad in the alleyway allowing entry into the Sterling Rope. This is it. What I came here to find.
"Breathe, Gemma," I remind myself. Breathe. I can do that. Inhale, exhale. Easy.
That's a lie. I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin. My heart races, pounding against my breastbone like a drum. Beads of sweat slide down my back, wicked away by the fabric of my dress.
I'm nervous as hell. And more excited than I've ever been about anything. I'm also more alone than I've been for most of my life.
For the first time since I was a baby, my four sisters—Adalynn, Heidi, Leia, and Charlie—don't know exactly where I am or what I'm doing. Neither does my brother, Garrett. They'd all lose their minds if they did.
According to them and everyone else in Silver Spoon Falls, the Sterling Rope isn't a place for innocent little virgins like me. It was designed for men who know what they want and the bad girls willing to give it to them.
For tonight, at least, I plan to be one of those women. Just once, I'm making my own rules and deciding who Gemma Marsh is. And she isn't the delicate little good girl everyone sees when they look at me.
I'm tired of pretending I am.
I approach the door, quickly punching in the code on the invitation my best friend, Elodie, gave me. I'm not entirely sure where she got it. I think she may have stolen it from her brother's coworker, Coby, but I'm not sure. I was a little afraid to ask. She's been trying to get his attention since we moved to town two months ago.
A buzzer sounds and the door clicks. I take a quick step back as it slides open. The faintest hint of amber and musk rolls out. I catch a glimpse of the upscale elegance of the antechamber and take a step forward, crossing the threshold.
A wall looms into my path, blocking me from going any further.
"Hell no," a deep, rumbling voice growls.
I glance up...directly into the eyes of the sexiest man I've ever seen in my life. So, not a wall then. Just a freaking God stepping out of the shadows to strike me down. And lord have mercy, I thought my brother was big. This man is a veritable giant. There's nothing little about him.
He towers over me like Goliath, his bald head gleaming. His expensive blue suit fits him like a glove, the fabric stretched to capacity over his brawny body. Colorful tattoos peak from beneath the sleeves of his dress shirt, giving him a dangerous vibe that I like a little too well.
But even with a mean scowl on his face, there's no mistaking him for anyone other than who he is. Bronx Kaiser, former football legend…and one of my brother's friends. They played football together in college briefly, though we've never met. Not that it matters much when the whole world knows this man on sight.
For a long time, he was the only thing the sports world talked about. He blew his knee out during the final game of his senior season, mere days after winning the Heisman Trophy. Everyone expected him to be the first pick of the draft. Instead, his career ended before it ever began, thanks to a brutal hit that every sports channel in the United States replayed for weeks.
I was just a kid when it happened, and I still remember feeling so bad for him. I didn't even know him, and I wanted to hug him. Being that close to your dream and having it ripped away while the whole world watched over and over? Even as a kid, I understood the innate cruelty of that.
I heard he lived in town, but I did not expect to find him here.
"You're not coming in here."
"What? Why?" I blink, caught off guard by the rejection. "I have an invitation." I slip my hand into the tiny clutch I brought with me, producing the thick square invitation that probably cost more than I make in a day. It is nice nice. I hold it out to him. When he takes it from me and tucks it into his pocket, I frown. "You're not even going to look at it?"
"Nope. I don't need to see it. I already told you that you aren't fucking coming in here."
"Why not?"
He looks me up and down, his baby blues rolling over me like a hot wind. "Have you ever been to a BDSM club before, Dilemma?"
"Gemma."
"Come again?"
"My name is Gemma Marsh, not beautiful. Not Dilemma. Gemma."
"Baby, you've got beautiful dilemma written all over you."
I scowl at him, which only makes him chuckle.