Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Quicker than I can tell my head that this is a bad idea, I twist her to face my desk, fold her over it, lift her coat and dress, then spank her ass raw.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I told you what would happen if you lied again.” As I rub the red globes of her ass cheeks, I dip my middle finger a little lower than the rest, growling when I feel the dampness of the lacy material wedged between her fantastic ass cheeks. She’s wearing a thong similar to the ones I provided her with months ago. It leaves nothing to the imagination. “You’re fucking drenched.”
“Not for y—”
I slap her clit this time, producing a moan that can’t be stifled. “Stop. Fucking. Lying.” Her clit is spanked between each word, the intensity of my slap growing for each one awarded. “You sent Saka because you know you can’t say no to me, but instead of figuring out why that scares you, you’re trying to hide from it. You’re trying to hide from me.”
“Accuses the man who hid from his feelings for years.”
I almost spank her again until I realize she isn’t lying. She knocked me on my ass the first time I saw her. She didn’t know I was watching, but I nearly gave it away when her head unexpectedly swiveled toward me at the nightclub she was dancing the night away in.
I knew from that moment she would be my wife. I was so confident that I told my mother I was considering accepting Coralie’s proposal. My parents’ volatile relationship is how my mother talked me out of it. Their marriage was arranged to strengthen mafia ties, but it almost ended centuries of hard-fought reputations.
She also told me my bride-to-be was clueless about her mother’s plans and that a real man would let a woman pick who she wants to love.
“She is barely an adult. Let her live a little.”
My mother’s infinite wisdom saw me working myself to the bone to keep my thoughts on anyone but Natalya. I was in Rome on assignment when news of my father’s marriage reached my ears. I was only planning to take a look at the woman he’d ruined our family for. I hadn’t even cleaned my rifle from my last assignment, but everything changed when not even a dusty scope could have me mistaking Natalya’s endless beauty.
It took me so long to get over my shock, when I returned to peering down the scope, I’d missed everything that had happened. Natalya was no longer in the room with my father, and he was calling in his favorite executioner to hunt his new bride.
I had seconds to make a decision, seconds not needed when a quick adjustment of my rifle had me spotting Natalya in the foyer of the hotel. She was rattled, scared, and as white as a ghost. Her expression was the same one my mother wore every time she fled my father’s bedroom in the house we lived in as a family for eight years of my life.
The world shut down when my brain finally clued on to why she constantly sobbed after leaving his room. I didn’t calibrate for the wind or the bullet drop. I lined up the crosshairs with my father’s heart and took my shot.
I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt.
I killed my father because he was a horrible man. It had nothing to do with me wanting to steal his throne or rule his kingdom, so I didn’t factor mafia law into my decision when I made it.
“I killed my father and walked away without a single ounce of hesitation.” An unbelievable huff puffs out my chest. “But walking away from you in that shoddy airport on the border of Manila was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
When Natalya tries to stand, I push on her lower back, forcing her to stay down. “You were free, and there was no connection between us that could expose the truth. I just had to stay away from you, but you, my stubborn, persistent girl, wouldn’t stop drawing me back in. I was fucking obsessed with watching you flourish from afar. I watched you for months on end.”
My chuckle is unexpected. Usually, I only want to go on a murderous rampage when jealous, but she has me questioning how well I know myself. “Might have even ruined a few of your dates. A lot of men find it hard to keep their cock up when they’re threatened to lose it if they do.” Air whizzes out of my nose. “But even after all that, the jealousy, the angst, and the pull, I was still convinced I could be in the same room as you and not respond to the buzz that zapped through me every time you entered my thoughts.”