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)
“Besides,” he continues, “I need you.”
I gulp audibly. “You need me?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he murmurs. The way his eyes rake over my body tells another story.
I wish my heart didn’t skip a beat when he looks at me that way.
“You’re leverage. I need to use you to get what my grandfather wants out of this deal. I have a meeting with your father in an hour.”
Oh no. This isn’t good. What’s going to happen when the guy says I’m not his daughter? What happens to me, then? My pulse is alarmingly rapid, and my palms are all sweaty.
“Why would he want to make a deal with somebody who kidnapped his kid?” I ask.
He squints at me like I’m something he’s never seen before. “Obviously, he’d want to be sure you didn’t get hurt. He’ll do anything to get you back. Most fathers would.”
He’s going to be very disappointed. And so am I when my head ends up on the chopping block.
“I don’t know. I’d think letting me go would be, you know, a good faith gesture.”
He smirks and even snorts a little. “Why so nervous? You don’t think he wants you back?”
“Maybe I have a little more insight than you think. I’m just saying, I think it would go better if I was free before the meeting.” It’s wishful thinking, but what else do I have. The moment this Josef person shows up and sees I’m not who I’ve been pretending to be, Enzo will learn he has no leverage at all, and I’ll end up with my brains all over the floor.
Then again, maybe not. Whoever this guy is, he might be willing to play along, right? He doesn’t know who I am, but he’ll know I was found with those drugs in my bag. He might want to keep me alive just in case there’s something I know, something important. Or he might not want Enzo to know some random girl was given access to his product. It might look kind of unprofessional, now that I think about it. I’m sure Elena wasn’t supposed to let me take her place.
And now I’m worried she’ll end up getting in trouble. I really need to stop worrying about other people so much. My ass is on the line here, and I’m going to feel sorry for her? Has she even noticed that I’m missing or thought to look for me? But who am I kidding? Even if she had, what is she going to do? She’s just a girl, involved with some very bad people. She told me as much.
I can’t take the chance. I can’t trust some mafia guy I’ve never met to protect me. So what am I going to do?
Only one thing comes to mind. And no matter how my body seems to enjoy being close to Enzo, this is not something I want to do. In fact, it’s the last thing I want to do, but it might be enough to distract him.
So I do it before I can talk myself out of it, stepping up to him and placing my hands on his chest. “Are you sure there’s nothing else you would rather use me for than leverage?” I whisper before taking the chance and brushing my lips against his—teasingly, lightly, scared out of my mind but trying to make it look like I want to be seductive. Will he go for it?
He takes me by the back of the neck, sinking his hand into my hair before deepening the kiss, consuming my mouth, and crushing my lips. I want to be revolted. I want to recoil in disgust. And part of me does; part of me is sickened and disgusted.
The rest of me? Another story. A sizzling current runs through my body like somebody plugged me into a socket, lighting me up inside. This shouldn’t feel so good. I shouldn’t be this hungry for him.
I shouldn’t want him to put his hands on me.
He backs me up against the wall, holding me in place with his body the way he did when I tried to get away. But it’s different this time. This time, I want him pressed against me, all over me. I can almost forget who he is and what this is about once his tongue slides into my mouth, sending a current directly to my clit.
It’s probably not a bad thing when his hand tightens dangerously. I gasp in surprise, breaking the kiss, and open my eyes to find him glaring at me.
“Did I give you permission to touch me?” he whispers.
“I… I mean…” It would be great if I could think, but it seems all the blood left my brain in favor of rushing down to where I am now wet and aching.
For one breathless moment, he stares into my eyes, breathing heavily. Is it desire or rage, though? That’s what I don’t know. He kissed me as I had hoped he would. Now he’s looking at me like he wants to kill me.