Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“Alright, so we’re both screwed. Is that all? Can I leave now?”
“Come here.”
Her arms cross. “Is that how you talk to your wife?”
“Yes. I’m frustrated, little fox, and I’m going to take it out on you. Now come here.”
She doesn’t budge. But I can tell by the way she licks her lips that she likes this. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Like you just said, we’re both in a bad position. You were taken from your family, and I’ve been forbidden from going back to the only home I’ve known for a decade. We’re more alike than I realized.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“I don’t want this marriage. You don’t want it either. You think I’m the enemy here? Or maybe that’s your brother.”
She steps toward me, face hardening. “I don’t despise you because we’re married. I despise you because of what you did to my family.”
“And I feel the same way toward you.”
“Great. We understand each other then. Can I go now?”
“I’m not finished with you. Come here.”
She shakes her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And you’re delusional. Do you really think you’re innocent in all this? That I’m some big, bad monster, and your family didn’t deserve what they got? You probably don’t even realize that it was your father who started the war to begin with.” My eyes widen as she goes very still. “You really didn’t know.”
“Screw you. I don’t believe you.”
“Why would I start a war with your family?” I move toward her, going slow. “I was building my power. Forming my connections. Growing every year. Then one day, a bomb goes off in one of my clubs, killing six of my employees, wounding countless others. Innocent fucking people. I got a call the next day from your father telling me that if I don’t move away from their turf, they’ll keep up the pressure until I’m forced out. Did you know about that, little fox?”
She’s breathing fast. I stop within a few feet, staring into her eyes. I remember it all so vividly: the smell of charred wood, the acrid stink of melting plastic, the ugly bodies torn and ruined, and all that blood. Three dead were people in my shadow business; three others were completely innocent. All the wounded were patrons.
“I don’t believe you.” Her voice is softer now and I can see the doubt in her eyes. “Why would my father hurt innocent people?”
“To make a point. Was your father a kind man?”
“Yes, he could be.”
“You know better than that.”
Her jaw works. “Fuck you, Jayson. I’m not going to fall for this.”
“Do you want me to find the newspaper stories from the next day? Do you want the police reports? I can get it all for you. I can prove to you that I’m not lying.”
“I don’t want to hear this.” She tries to turn away, but I grab her arm and hold her. “Let go of me.”
“No. I want you to understand. I didn’t start that war. I never fucking wanted it. War’s bad for business, and all I wanted to do was keep growing. Your father killed my best friend, and I don’t mourn that dead old man. I don’t mourn him at all.”
She yanks away, stumbling. Her eyes are wide with rage. I move toward her, cornering her against the wall. She’s breathing fast, sucking in air, a mixture of rage and fear in her eyes. When she tries to shove me back, I hold her wrists against the wall, pinning her so she can’t escape.
“I don’t care what you think happened,” she whispers, staring at me. “I don’t care what you say. What lies you have rattling around that empty head of yours. I’ll never believe that my father was at fault.”
“That’s why I like you, little fox. You’re loyal, even if that loyalty blinds you.”
“And you’re a liar. I know men like you. Men that will say whatever’s convenient so long as it wins them an argument.”
“You think this is convenient for me? No, this is the opposite. All I want to do is rip that pretty cardigan off your body, lick your stiff nipples, fuck your pussy until you scream. I want to taste you, Fallon, my fox, hold you down and make you come over and over. The truth doesn’t help with that at all.”
She’s chewing her lip now. Biting hard, and I wonder if she’ll make herself bleed. “Let me go.”
“I don’t want to.”
“And I don’t care. If you touch me, I’ll scream.”
“You know what’s the worst part of this? You know I’m right. You can think back to what happened, how it all went down, and you can see that my timeline makes total sense. You know I’m not lying, but somehow, that makes you hate me even more. But I don’t care about that, wife of mine. All I want to do is release my frustration on your beautiful fucking body until you’re shivering and coming on my lips. Tell me to get on my knees.”