Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
“You mean the job? Is that all you care about?”
The front door is yanked open, making a rolling metal sound. Two overly muscular men burst in, and I wrap the sheet tightly around myself. I recognize them as Clive and Jimmy. They work for my dad.
“Let’s go,” Clive says.
Clive is the stockier and older of the two. His light brown hair is grey at the temples.
“No,” I say, sitting up straighter but careful to keep myself covered. “Dylan, do something.”
Dylan looks up from his phone and at the two men. “Oh hey guys, want a beer?”
“I wish, but we’re on the clock,” Jimmy says.
“Yeah, I get it. I told her she should go.”
“You’re covering for me tonight, right?” Jimmy asks.
“Yup, you know I got you. I’m looking forward to that sweet overtime.”
“Your father has been waiting for you,” Clive says.
“He can keep waiting.”
“I don’t think you heard me,” he says, his voice seething with anger. “I said we have to go.”
He reaches out and grabs my upper arm, then yanks me out of the bed. I hold onto the sheets to cover myself as I drop to the floor.
“Get dressed, brat,” he says before turning his back to me.
Dylan and Jimmy are talking while Clive taps his foot impatiently. I pick up my dress and undies off the floor and take them to the bathroom with the sheet still wrapped around me.
When I step back into the loft, Dylan and Jimmy are gone. Clive looks at his watch before walking to the door.
“Don’t give me any trouble,” he says.
With his meaty hand wrapped around my arm, he leads me out of the loft and to the black sedan all of my father’s employees drove. I pull my arm away from him and fold my arms over my chest as we walk to the door. He opens the door, and I get into the backseat.
As Clive begins to drive, I notice Dylan and Jimmy standing by Dylan’s car.
“Oh wait, there’s Dylan,” I say as I roll down the window. I wave out the window to Dylan, but he turns away from me. “Guess he didn’t see me,” I mutter.
“Are you stupid?” Clive says. “You can’t possibly be this naive.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not stupid.”
“He’s using you! I can’t be the only one who’s pointed this out. What have your girlfriends said about him?”
“I don’t have any girlfriends. Never saw the need for them.”
“Never saw the need?”
“No, logically, there is none.”
“Logically, that asshole is using you to get at your father’s money. Logically, I should stay out of this. But if you were my daughter, I’d be grateful that someone had tried to tell her.”
“He’s not using me. He loves me.”
But even as the words left my mouth, I realized that Clive’s words had a ring of truth to them. I pushed that aside and focused on the posh prison we were pulling up in front of.
I grew up here. I barely remembered my mother anymore, but I was grateful that my dad was the kind of person who tried to keep her memory alive with stories about her and old photos all over our home.
I never minded all the homeschooling; I actually enjoyed it. My father and I are close, but over the past year we haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye. After all these years of my dad letting me do what I wanted, he started talking about my getting married. He didn’t like that I was leaving the house without him. He especially didn’t like Dylan. And I can see why.
Before Dylan, I rarely left the compound. Dad made sure I had everything I could need. But Dylan encouraged me to break free, to go out into the world and see what was out there.
As I exit Clive’s car, I notice a parked white Maserati. Clive grabs my arm, but I quickly jerk it away.
“Let me go. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
“Your father is waiting for you in his office,” he growls as we enter the house.
“You don’t have to tell me to go to my father’s office. I know why you brought me here. Do you have any idea how much you embarrassed me?” I jab at his chest with my finger before turning towards the office.
As I turn towards my father’s office, I notice someone else in the grand foyer walking towards the door. The man looks comfortable in his suit, something not every man can pull off, but he has a quiet confidence to him that I only see in older men.
I’m never attracted to older men. They usually make me think of my father, but this man is different. My pulse quickens.
His dark, wavy hair is a little wild from the windy day. I spot some grey at his temples, but he’s so attractive that I don’t care about this reminder of his age. It’s more than just his looks, though. There’s something about him that I feel is pulling me to him. I’m enchanted by his blue eyes, which hold my gaze, letting everything around us fall away. It’s only us, and I can’t explain it, but that’s exactly what I want. My heart leaps in my chest, and my breath catches in my throat.