Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“You think this is up for negotiation? You have power because I can’t kill you? In a way, you’ve got a small amount of control, but you forget who I am, what I do.” He pushed her against the wall. “You’re free to walk the grounds because I allow it. I don’t have to.”
“Your father?”
“My father wouldn’t intervene if I chained you in the basement, keeping you spread and ready for my dick, or locked up. So long as you ate and were physically capable of having a baby, he doesn’t care how I get the deed done. Your life belongs to me. No one, not even your family, cares what happens to you now. They’ve already paid for their sins, and this is them. Do you want to test me?”
She wanted to, but looking into his eyes, she knew he’d do it. He’d keep her locked up, and this was already bad enough.
“Please,” she said.
“Please what?”
“Please, let me keep my dog. He’s never been in any pen, and I don’t see why keeping him will be so hard. He’s a good boy.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. He doesn’t sleep in our room, and if he makes one bad move, he’ll be outside for the rest of his life.”
****
“I didn’t expect a visit so soon,” Marcus said, leading his father into his office. He already ordered the maid to get them a hot drink. His father sat down on the sofa, and he leaned against his desk.
Having time off was … exhausting.
Marcus wasn’t used to doing nothing, and right now, he was avoiding his wife. Lucas was inside his home at his request, and the dog spent time between him and Laura. He wondered if his wife knew of her dog’s lack of loyalty. If Lucas had been a guard, he’d have killed him.
As it was, having Lucas around gave him an easy way of finding Laura. For most of the day, she’d been in the library, reading one of those romantic books that had been put there.
“I wanted to see how you were adapting to married life.”
“Laura is alive and well.”
“When you’re given an order, I expect you to fulfill it. I cannot have you failing me now.”
“The Davis fortune will be back with The Boss.”
“The only way to guarantee it is with a son. We need a son, Marcus.”
“I cannot control what she gets when I knock her up. You know that. Laura has always been volatile.”
“She’s a woman. All you have to do is let her know who owns her.”
Marcus laughed. “You mean beat her into submission.”
“Every woman I’ve encountered doesn’t like pain and will do whatever it takes to avoid it. If she doesn’t like pain, use it to get what you want. She’s your wife, take it. She has no say in the matter.”
Marcus stared at his father, and for a long time, he’d always respected the man. “I know what you’re trying to say without using the words, but I’m not going to do it.”
“You’re disobeying me.”
“Women don’t like pain. A lot of people don’t like pain. We’ve been trained not to react to it. To take it and to push it to one side so we don’t break under the power of it. You need kids from Laura. More specifically we need a son. If I hurt her, push her past a limit, break her … some women don’t always become subservient out of fear. They take their own life, and seeing as you dealt with her mother, you’d have to wait for someone else to take the fortune and a new daughter.”
“You believe Laura to be too weak.”
“I believe every single person has a breaking point. It only is matter of time before it snaps. If that is all you’ve come to talk to me about, I’m doing my duty. Laura will be pregnant soon, but I won’t risk her taking her life in the name of violence.”
He could have easily hit her, hurt her, and punished her, but there were more ways to get what he wanted.
What he would never do was tell his father the real reason he wouldn’t hit Laura. The last thing he wanted was for his wife to cower away from him out of fear.
“Then my job here is done. We look forward to your progress.”
“I want one of the pups like we discussed,” Marcus said.
“I will have it delivered to you right away.”
They left his office, and he stopped when he caught sight of Laura. She was coming downstairs, and he saw how her grip tightened on the rail.
“Laura, you look stunning,” his father said, the lie falling from his lips. Laura was dressed in sweats and a shirt two sizes too big. She hadn’t changed from her walk, and his father was used to women trying to look their best around him. Laura had never been the kind of woman to impress a man.