Total pages in book: 767
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
There’s nowhere far enough she could’ve run. Marvin would’ve found her. He was a small fish in a big pond, but he was part of the mob. Every single man in the business would’ve been looking for her. My curiosity piqued further, I ask, “Who were you supposed to marry?”
“Lambert Roos.”
It makes sense. It would’ve strengthened Marvin’s connections, but hearing her say it doesn’t sit right with me. Lambert is an old fart. I feel like killing him now just because he once upon a time considered marrying her. Which raises the questions I’ve been mulling over for the last hour. Why didn’t anyone in the family take the Haynes orphans in? Now I want to know, why didn’t the Roos family take Valentina and Charles when their mother died? Lambert’s family should’ve claimed them and raised Valentina until she turned a marriageable age. Too many things about Valentina don’t add up.
She watches me with her big eyes. “Don’t push her away. Give her reason to confide in you, not to do things behind your back. Carly is her own person. She deserves to make her own choices, even if they’re mistakes.”
Everything she says is true, but the protective side of me is too fierce.
“It’s just a date,” she continues. “You can’t lock her in a glass cage forever. She has to find her way in life.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
“Of course you can. At least meet the kid before you cast judgment. Invite him over. That way you can decide if she’s safe with him.”
I consider her words. I’m not the world’s greatest father, but I want what’s best for Carly.
“You can always kill him if he misbehaves,” she says with a hint of a smile.
It’s her way of telling me she accepted what happened this morning, not that I need her acceptance. I’m not worried about her ratting on me, either, because I know how desperately she wants to keep her brother alive. Anyway, it won’t do her any good. Magda practically owns the police force.
I sigh and wipe a hand over my face. “I have to discuss it with her mother.”
Hope lights up the somber depths of her eyes. “Can I tell her you’ll think about it?”
“Fine.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “I’ll think about it, and I’ll tell her myself.”
“Thank you,” she says, as if I just granted her freedom to date, which brings another nagging issue to my mind––Valentina’s virginity.
I won’t be able to hold off much longer. At some point, my control is going to snap. It tears me apart to even think about it, but soon I’ll have to face the decision I’ve been putting off for far too long.
* * *
When Valentina is cleaning upstairs, I send Marie out on a shopping errand with Quincy, and go through Valentina’s room. Except for a few pieces of clothing, a pair of flip-flops, and a change of plain, white underwear, there are raspberry-scented shampoo, body lotion, deodorant, and tampons in her closet. There are no cosmetics, jewelry, or shoes, not even a hairclip.
On the bottom shelf, I find a stack of text and notebooks. From the titles, I deduce they’re on veterinary science. Could it be that Valentina is a university student? It should’ve occurred to me earlier. She’s clever, driven, and ambitious. It makes sense that she’d want to further her education. As I’m staring at her neat handwriting, I’m struck by another foreign emotion.
Pride.
The pride I feel for Carly is her birthright, but this is different. This pride is earned. A piece of the ever-present coldness in me makes way for a pleasant rush of heat. Valentina wants to be a vet. She’ll make a brilliant, gorgeous animal doctor. This is why she needs the money. I finished an MBA after high school, and I know how much hard work it is. She won’t keep up this job and her studies. Not for long. The part of me that wants her to be happy wants her to have this, but I’ll have to find a way around Magda.
I’m enjoying the sensation of warmth in my chest too much to let it go, but when my gaze sweeps over her belongings, a new feeling dampens my pride. It takes me a while to place it.
Fuck me. I feel compassion. Big, empathic compassion. I always knew Valentina was going to play havoc with my body, but what the hell is she doing to my heart?
* * *
Valentina
“Which one?” Carly holds up a pink strapless dress and a blue one with a tight-fitting bodice.
I stop ironing to consider the options. “The pink one.” Gabriel will definitely object if she shows off too much of her figure.
She puts the pink one on the ironing pile and lifts her hair on top of her head. “Up or down?”