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)
Am I ever going to stop leading myself into caring about him? It’s like I want to get myself hurt. Like I want to be disappointed and let down when my husband doesn’t measure up to the image I’ve created in my loneliness.
I meet my gaze in the mirror and tighten my jaw in defiance. Fuck him. Fuck all of this. I’m doing what I need to do to survive, the way I always have. I’m not going to slink down the aisle with tears in my eyes. I won’t beg anybody to let me out of it, either. And if he wants me to be his wife, he’s going to see I’m no doormat. I’m not going to let any of these men break me down.
I’m taking one last look at myself in the mirror, touching up my makeup, when the door opens. It wouldn’t be Enzo coming back already, would it?
No. It’s a man I’ve never seen before, tall and dark-skinned and smiling like a shark. “There she is. My beautiful little girl.”
I have to grit my teeth against a groan. I almost forgot about him. The man who’s supposed to be my father, a man now sneering at me, just barely keeping it together when it’s obvious he wants to laugh. I’ve heard his name used before. Alvarez.
“I never thought this day would come,” he adds with a snicker. Obviously, this is all incredibly hilarious to him.
Then I guess it would be. He’s getting a deal out of this, but I’m not even his daughter. Instead of barging in and demanding to hear the whole story from my point of view, he’s laughingly going along with it. “Why didn’t you tell them the truth from the beginning?” I whisper. “Please, I’m trying to understand.”
Like magic, his smile dissolves into something more sinister, something that goes with those cold, dead eyes of his. “Who says you get to understand anything? You’re the one who used my family name. I’m the one who deserves an explanation—not that I care much about you or your reason for doing anything.”
I can’t help but gasp at the sight of the gun he pulls out from his waistband, scrambling backward until I hit the vanity table. He points it at me, his handsome face cold and hard. “Where’s the product you stole? Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
That’s all he cares about? I should’ve known. I mean, why would he give a shit about me, anyway? “I don’t know! I really don’t.”
He advances on me, one slow step at a time. “Don’t lie to me. There might be a minister waiting outside and twenty guards wandering around, but I could kill you right now, and I wouldn’t feel a thing.”
I have no trouble believing that. I thought Enzo was bad? There is no life behind this man’s eyes. I can’t stop bouncing my attention between them and the gleaming pistol aimed at my chest. “I’m telling the truth. I don’t know what happened to it. And I wasn’t trying to steal it, either. I was supposed to deliver it.”
“I don’t want to hear your shit,” he barks with a wave of the gun, which he quickly aims again. “You’re going to give me what I’m looking for, or this white dress is going to turn red real fast.”
I don’t know what to do. It’s just like when Enzo first took me. The way he insisted on ignoring everything I said, so sure I was lying to him all the time. This feels like I’m in that nightmare all over again.
His eyes dart over my face, his jaw twitching. “Well? What’s it going to be? And let me tell you something, whatever your name is: nobody steals from me and walks away. Ask anybody, and they’ll tell you. I’m not a man who takes theft lightly.”
When he falls silent, I whisper, “I’m sure you aren’t.” After all, it seems like he’s waiting for something.
“So the fact that I’m even giving you a chance to tell me the truth says a lot.” His mouth twists in a nasty smirk. “But it should also tell you I’m not used to controlling myself when I’ve been betrayed. So I wouldn’t rely on kindness much longer.”
“I completely understand what you’re saying,” I whisper, praying nobody is standing right outside the door. Granted, I’m screwed either way, but if I’m going to die, I would rather it be quick, the way my supposed father is threatening. Something tells me Enzo wouldn’t make it quick.
All I can do is shrug helplessly. “I know you won’t believe this, but I would tell you if I knew. I really would.”
“So you’re going to go through with this marriage? Even though it’s all a lie?”
It’s a ridiculous question, but it goes to show how little this man understands my situation. He’s so busy worrying about himself, he hasn’t given me a moment’s thought—what a surprise. “What choice do I have? From the beginning, he was so sure I was a part of your family. I never said I was. He just assumed. No matter what I told him, he wouldn’t listen—any more than you’ll listen now,” I add because what the hell? I have nothing left to lose at this point.