Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Wide-eyed, she stared at him. “I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
She parted her lips but before she could answer, the door banged into the caravan wall. Sky jerked in fright. He sheltered her in his arms, assessing the threat with a quick, practiced glance.
Doumar stood on the step, carrying something in his arms and swaying on his feet.
Chapter 5
In his arms, Doumar didn’t clutch a weapon but a cat. The asshole was drunk. It took everything Bono had not to bash the fucker’s head in right then and there. The only thing preventing him was the woman on his lap. Sky didn’t need the violence. He’d do it when the motherfucker was sober and they were alone.
“I didn’t know you had company,” Doumar said, letting himself in as if he owned the place, which he did of course. “Mr. Black, right?”
“Right,” Bono said stiffly.
Sky pulled her skirt down from where it had hitched up to her thigh. Fidgeting with the hem, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
He stroked the cat’s head. “Brought you a pet.”
She stared at the cat. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“The pussy needs a place to stay while I’m moving. I thought you’d like the company. Don’t you want it?”
“I … of course.”
He walked over to the bed and sat down. “What do we say?”
“Thank you.”
The cat jumped from his hold and started to sniff around.
Doumar patted his knee. “Come here, baby. Come give me a kiss.”
Bono tensed. The Dutchman had no right to lay a finger on her, and he wasn’t going to stand by and let it happen. With him to protect her, he fully expected Sky to refuse Doumar’s command, but she caught him off guard when she lifted her body off his lap.
Bono grabbed her wrist. Holding her eyes, he said in a low voice, “You don’t have to. Not if you don’t want to.”
Despite his unspoken message, that he’d take out Doumar without blinking his one good eye, she gently freed her arm and got to her feet. She removed his jacket and laid it over his knee. Without sparing him as much as a backward glance, she walked to Doumar and sat down in his lap. When he tilted his head, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, not much differently from how she’d embraced Bono at the amusement park.
Anger, deception, and the knowledge that he’d been used flooded his senses, leaving him as bitter as the untouched coffee on the table. His mind was clear enough to realize he was guilty of the same, but the fact didn’t expel the feelings. It was his turn to be on the receiving end of her unspoken message.
He got it loud and clear.
She was done playing with him, at least for tonight. Well, he was long from being done with her.
Sky was still kissing Doumar when he showed himself out.
It was sickening to let Bono go, especially like that, but it was the only way to protect him. If Doumar’s jealousy got the upper hand, if he suspected for one moment how she acted with Bono was real, he’d put a bullet in Bono’s head and hurt Niels to get back at her.
When she reckoned Bono was long gone, she broke the kiss. Years of practice had taught her to swallow her repulsion.
Doumar’s breath was laced with brandy. “Did you fuck him?”
“No.”
“It looked like fucking to me.”
“We had our clothes on. You saw for yourself.”
“You were going to.”
She got up. “Why did you really come here? You ruined my chance to get information. Godfrey will be upset.”
He was on his feet so fast he nearly knocked her down. He grabbed hold of her hair, jerking down until her neck arched. “Don’t you dare threaten me with running to Godfrey.”
“I’m not going to run to anyone, but he’ll kill us if we don’t give him what he wants.”
He let go of her with a shove. “He’ll get what he wants, and I’ll get what I want.”
“What do you want, Doumar?”
He brushed his hands over his head and lifted his face to the ceiling.
Sensing his anguish and seeing a gap that rarely opened to her, she touched his arm. “I know you don’t want me, not really. It must be tiring, constantly controlling and manipulating me, worrying that I’ll get away. I can still work for you. You can have the money without all this constant waste of energy. Set me free,” she urged gently. “Let our son go, and I will always work for you.”
His back went rigid. His muscles froze. It was a risk to speak like that, but she had to try. Slowly, he turned back to her. The rage that filled his eyes was scary. Before she could backtrack, he raised his arm and backhanded her across the face. The force of the impact sent her flying. On her way down, her head hit the corner of the dressing table. Sparks popped in her vision from the pain. Sprawled out on the floor, the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She was too dizzy to get up. She could only follow the path of Doumar’s boots with her eyes as he closed the two steps between them, coming to a stop next to her. It was a situation she’d experienced many times before. She knew what was coming even before the tip of his boot connected with her ribs. Crawling into herself, she tried to protect her stomach, but the kick did its damage anyway, knocking the wind out of her. Air wheezed through her teeth.