Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Every silent second that passes between us is like the turning of a knob, ratcheting up my tension. Making it more likely I’ll lose myself in the process of punishing her.
Finally, she emits a whimper. “I don’t know what you want, but I’ll do my best.”
“Your best isn’t good enough. You’re going to give me what I want. No more of these games, Elena, or else what nearly happened to us earlier will become a reality—for you, not for me. I have no intention of losing my life today.”
And oh, she shudders, and it’s a beautiful thing. Perhaps one day, I’ll have the opportunity to look back over the way I react to her and analyze it. It isn’t that I’m the type of man who’s ever shrunk back from inflicting pain, but it’s never pleased me nearly as much as it pleases me to watch her suffer.
“I’m going to start with an easy question.” I look up from my nails to find her staring at the knife, unblinking. “Why would your father send a hitman to kill us before he had ever verified whether you were safe?”
“I swear, I don’t know. I had no idea that was going to happen!”
“That’s not what I asked you.” I wave the knife slightly, and she gulps. “I asked why he would send a sniper before he had even set eyes on you. It’s obvious he wasn’t there and had no intention of arriving. A single sniper, that’s all.”
“I’m telling you.” Her voice is barely a whisper like her throat is too tight for more than that. “I don’t know. This is all a mystery to me, and I know you don’t believe that, but it’s the truth.”
“We can agree on that much. I don’t believe you.”
“But it’s the truth. I don’t know any other way to put it. I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know why he would do that. I don’t know anything about the way he does business.”
The thing is, I believe that. It wouldn’t be the first time a man in his position ignored a daughter. “Do you have any male relatives your father plans on handing the family business down to once he’s gone?” It’s a trick question. I already know the answer, which is no. There was no mention of another male relative in the file my grandfather provided.
“No?”
Right answer, but not exactly delivered in a reassuring way. “Are you guessing?”
“No.” She’s firmer now.
“So there is no male relative marked as the heir. This tells me you are the only option.”
Her brows draw together as if she’s in pain. “No.”
“You mean to tell me your father has no contingency plan in place? I think we both know that’s impossible. It just doesn’t happen that way.” I slide over, and she lets out a strangled little whimper. “So I know you’re lying. If there is no male relative—and I know there isn’t, good on you for telling me the truth about that—it means you are a valuable asset.”
She falls back slightly when I lean in, inhaling the scent of the soap I used to wash her earlier. “Yet he allowed a sniper to open fire on one of us without first confirming your safety. You tell me. In what world does that make any sense?” Before she can open her mouth and spew out another lie, I begin running the tip of the blade up her bare calf. She freezes solid and with good reason. The slightest bit of pressure, and I’ll break the skin. She’s a fool, but she’s not that stupid.
“Now I know your father doesn’t care whether you get hurt or not,” I muse, watching as I trace a line up her calf and leave a faint pink stripe behind. “So there’s nothing stopping me from breaking the skin.”
“Please, don’t.”
“There’s nothing stopping me.” I glance up and meet her terror-filled gaze. “I’m sure you know better than to think you can.”
“I don’t see why you’re punishing me for what he did. Obviously, I haven’t been in contact with him. I don’t know what he’s thinking or why he would do what he did. And I busted my ass to save Prince’s life, by the way. Doesn’t that earn me any credibility here?”
I have to give her credit. Her voice is trembling almost as hard as her body, but she managed to get that out. She’s not entirely wrong, either.
But I need to understand the man’s mind. “Is he that ruthless? That he would sacrifice his only child the way he did?”
“Maybe he thought he would take a chance? You would have to ask him.”
I pause when I reach her knee—then keep going. She sucks in another gasp through her clenched teeth, and her chin quivers. “Was that the reason you ran? Because you knew what was coming? Don’t lie to me.”