Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
“You’re an interesting woman. So, you didn’t lie to your parents about where you were going?”
“They didn’t know. They didn’t care to know. I wasn’t supposed to find out the truth, and they liked it when I blended into the furniture. I guess I blended a little too well for them.”
He burst out laughing. “They didn’t even have a clue that they had a snitch right under their nose.”
“I’m not a snitch.”
“No?”
Maria frowned and turned to look at him. “Would you rather I had stayed quiet?”
“You’d have died with the rest of them, and if they had succeeded in their plan, you’d have been one of the top women. Men would have fought over you.”
She shook her head. “No, they would have fought for my sister, not me.”
“You don’t think you’re worth fighting for?” he asked.
“I know I’m not worth fighting for. I’ve been told that many times. Men value beauty and a lot of other things I don’t possess.”
“And in our world, men also value loyalty. You were loyal to me, to the family, and I can tell you, Draven doesn’t need anything else.”
But was it enough? Maria didn’t have a clue how to deal with Draven.
“He hates me,” she said.
“No, he doesn’t hate you. Trust me, if Draven hated you, you’d either be dead, or, well, there’s no doubt about it, you’d have been dead.”
“Draven kills everyone he hates?”
“As far as I know, there’s no one breathing that he hates.” The Boss shrugged. “That’s his way of dealing with the world. One death at a time. It makes it easier for him. If he hates someone, there’s usually a reason.”
She still didn’t have to like that.
“I’ve scared you?”
“It’s fine.” She wasn’t scared. “There are a lot of rumors about … him.”
“Yes.”
She waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. “Is any of it true?”
“Yes.” The Boss began to laugh. “Am I annoying you, Maria?”
She was tempted to lie. She held her fingers close together and looked at him. “A little bit.”
“Ah, there you go, not telling a lie.”
“But you’re trying to lead me into one, right?”
“Some lies are necessary,” The Boss said.
“How can any lie be necessary?”
“To save people you care about, people you love.”
“Wouldn’t you lose … I don’t know, track of everything? Lies have a way of building out of control. How do you stay on track?”
“You’re an interesting woman.”
Maria didn’t believe that.
“To answer your question, a lot of the rumors about Draven are true. You can ask me for examples and I’ll do my best to answer them, but there are some things I don’t speak of.”
Did she want to know the truth from him, or from Draven?
“Is he really from Hell?” Maria asked. That was one of the most elaborate rumors, that he had come straight from the depths of Hell, and that he was sent here to cause nothing but chaos and destruction. It was all a little far-fetched, and she struggled with what to believe.
The Boss’s laughter deepened. She felt her cheeks heat as he slapped his thigh.
She waited.
“Wow, Maria, you don’t start the questions small, do you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Draven believes he came from a living hell, how is that? We all know he’s not the Devil. That he’s not some kind of otherworldly being. He’s a man. A man on a mission, that’s all. Loyal as well. It’s why you’ll always be safe, Maria. You swear your loyalty to me, to Draven, and he will make sure you live like a queen.”
“I don’t need to live like a queen.”
The Boss nodded. “Again, another reason you will be. You don’t expect anything more than your fair share. Don’t worry, you’ll do good.”
Maria stared at him and still couldn’t quite put her finger on what was so familiar and strange about him. When he looked back, she forced herself to avert her gaze so she didn’t appear rude.
“Is that it?”
“I already figured when people said he could kill people with his bare hands, that it was true.”
“Yes, that is true.”
There was silence. Maria was used to silence, she liked it. It was peaceful and gave her a chance to think.
“Do you have any other questions for me?” he asked.
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.
“What? Just spit it out. Let me have it.”
This all seemed strange to her. The Boss was a man of power. He was not a man to be trifled or messed with. In most circumstances, she would rather avoid him. “I want to be a good wife to Draven,” she said. That was the truth. He’d saved her.
He could have ignored her, walked out, left her to die, but he hadn’t. Not only had he saved her, he had punished that woman who’d hurt her. She wanted to be a good wife to him so he wouldn’t regret taking a chance on her. It was silly of her to even think about it, but she couldn’t stop.