Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 38835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
I’ll do anything to keep Evelyn, and nothing will separate us: not my enemies, and not her stubborn will.
I’ll kill any man who threatens her.
I’ll keep her so drunk on pleasure that she’ll be addicted to my touch.
She says she wants to go back home to America, but her home is with me now.
She will learn to love the gilded cage I’ll build for her, and she’ll be just as desperate for me as I am for her.
Evelyn doesn’t have a choice: she belongs to me, now and forever.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Massimo
My head swam, and the world blurred around me. A car horn blared in an incessant, unending wail. The grating sound dragged me back to full consciousness. For a moment, I was completely disoriented, the throbbing pain on my brow commanding my full attention and muddling my mind.
Then I heard her scream my name, and fear I’d never known before punched me, knocking the air from my lungs. Adrenaline surged, and the world sharpened with crystal clarity.
I was alone in the wrecked SUV. To my right, the deployed airbag obscured the view out of the shattered window, but I could make out the grill of the white van that’d smashed into us. I’d been knocked unconscious at the impact. How long had I been out?
And where was Evelyn?
The door to my left was open, and she was no longer cuddled up against my side.
“Massimo!”
Panic clawed at me, shredding rational thought and reducing me to my most primal, savage instincts.
I launched myself from the ruined SUV, stumbling slightly as the ground seemed to lurch beneath me. I willed the dizziness to subside and barreled on, desperate to get to her.
The SUV was a smoking scrap heap, and I dimly noted that the two men in the front seats were bloody and unmoving; I was alone, without backup. And that vehicle wouldn’t be getting us out of here anytime soon.
Even as part of my brain reasoned through our dire circumstances—planning our way out of this nightmare scenario—my thoughts were consumed with fear for Evelyn: my fragile little butterfly.
She wasn’t screaming anymore. I couldn’t hear her.
I rounded the ruined SUV and the smashed-up white van that’d collided with us to set this ambush. Another white van was parked behind it, perpendicular to the flow of traffic to blockade their assault. I caught a flash of her platinum hair just as the side door began to slide closed.
I threw myself into the van, ignoring the jarring pain as the door slammed into my side.
They weren’t fucking taking her away from me. They would die for trying.
Evelyn was mine.
My knife was in my hand, slashing at my enemies. One of them started to pull a gun on me, but the van was too small, and I was too close. My blade embedded itself in his skull, cutting into his brain. His eye was plucked from its socket as I wrenched the weapon free and turned to the other bastard who’d dared to touch her. His throat opened with one smooth swipe of my knife.
A sharp curse from the driver’s seat called my attention to the last man. That was his final word before I reached around the seat and slammed my blade into his heart, twisting to shred the vital organ. He slumped onto the steering wheel, and another horn blared incessantly, creating a cacophony of violent music.
I turned my attention to Evelyn, my heart in my throat. She lay sprawled out on the metal floor of the van, her shining hair creating a halo around her lovely face. Her delicate features were slack, and she was far too still.
“Evelyn!” I rasped her name and gathered her up in my arms, testing the pulse at her throat.
Her heartbeat was steady and strong. At my touch, her long lashes fluttered, and her peridot eyes pierced my chest like an arrow. They were glassy with pain, but she focused on me.
“Massimo,” she whispered, her slender fingers twining in my shirt to clutch at me.
Alive. Evelyn was alive, warm and vital in my arms.
But not safe. Not yet.
I had to get her back to Duarte’s building, behind the bulletproof glass and small army of men who guarded his personal urban fortress.
“You’re okay, farfallina,” I promised, forcing the words through my constricted throat. “I’ve got you.”
I didn’t want to release her, but I arranged her shaking body on one of the bench seats in the back of the van and buckled her in. She’d be more secure back here, away from the front windows, even if I would prefer to keep her in my line of sight.
As it was, I didn’t have anyone to drive us away from this mess. I shoved the two dead men out of the side door so that the sight of their bodies wouldn’t distress her. Then I heaved the third body out of the driver’s seat and took his place. Tires squealed as I slammed my foot down on the accelerator, getting us the fuck out of there. I tore through the city streets, mounting the sidewalk to get around the worst of the traffic. I shot a desperate glance at Evelyn in the rearview mirror.
Her eyes were closed, her cheeks far too pale.
“Keep your eyes open,” I barked, terror still riding me hard and roughening my tone. I didn’t want her passing out on me again. I had to get her to Duarte’s private physician so that he could assess her injuries.