Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Theo took my glass off the table and started to drink that instead.
“I have something to offer both of you,” Dante said. “If you cut me back in.”
Theo kept his mouth shut this time, looking at me to speak.
“I won’t sell the business to you.” He couldn’t afford to buy it anyway.
“I have something better than money.” Dante continued to look at me. “For Theo, I will give you the other two skull rings. You’ll have the full collection. And for you…” His eyes dropped, and he hesitated, like whatever he was about to say was as painful as bamboo shoots underneath his fingernails. “I’ll give you my daughter.”
Theo turned to stare at the side of my face.
I continued to look at Dante, whose eyes were on the floor in shame.
I savored the victory in silence. “You think I raped and beat my wife, but you want me to marry your daughter?”
His eyes remained down.
Theo piped up. “He asked you a question, asshole.”
Dante was quiet for a long time, probably grappling with the self-loathing and the guilt. “I’ll take back a third of the business, and upon my death or retirement, you’ll absorb my share through your marriage to my daughter. My legacy will live on. My grandchildren will have the business I built on my own.”
A distinct shiver moved down my spine at the thought of that ownership, to have Scarlett as mine, to fuck her, and then watch her have my sons and daughters. To have earned her after Dante’s ruthless rejection.
“You still didn’t answer the question,” Theo repeated. “And no deal will be struck until you do.”
Dante’s eyes remained downcast. He was quiet for so long, it seemed as if he would never speak. But then finally, the words came. “She continues to speak highly of you.” He raised his chin to look at me. “So I assume you treated her well.”
I was fucking Prince Charming…except when I fucked her like the devil. “I would take your deal, except we have a problem.” My fingers remained curled under my chin. “How will I get her to agree when she thinks I betrayed her?” I knew how proud she was, and even if she wanted to take me back, she wouldn’t.
“I’ll talk to her.”
“You’ll tell her that you forced me to do that.”
Dante released a heavy breath. “No.”
“Then we have no deal,” I snapped. “Tell her the truth or walk away.”
Dante slowly shook his head. “If I tell her the truth, I’ll lose her. And I’d rather lose my business than my daughter.”
I knew this wasn’t a bluff. He manipulated her and used her, but I knew he genuinely cared for her. His ambition and greed only went so far.
“I’ll talk to her,” he said. “Convince her this is the only way.”
It was still barbaric, treating her like a goat in a dowry, but since I was so close to having her, I didn’t raise any objections.
“But you can never tell her what happened,” he said. “And if you do, you know what the consequences will be. Just because I’ve lost my business doesn’t mean I’ve lost my ability to get rid of people.”
“You’ve got a lot of balls, threatening me right now.”
“It wasn’t a threat,” he said calmly. “Just a reminder that our previous arrangement still stands.”
“It wasn’t an arrangement,” I retorted. “It was coercion.”
Dante paused, letting the tension pass. “Do we have a deal or not?”
My eyes shifted to Theo.
Theo gave a nod in agreement.
I turned back to Dante. “Yes. We have a deal.”
9
SCARLETT
I had no purpose.
I used to wake up every morning and head to my father’s estate to work. I visited the production sites, worked with the distributors, did all the paperwork. Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, I missed lunch.
But now…I had nothing to do.
My other passion was cooking, but I was too depressed for that. I worried about my father, knowing how hard he was taking this. He wouldn’t be able to shake it off and move on. He was too emotionally invested in the business.
Axel’s face was still burned in my mind. My heart had raced at the sight of him, but I’d probably failed to get a reaction out of him. Maybe he was still with Cassandra, or maybe he replaced her with someone else…and replaced her with someone else too.
Maybe that relationship meant a lot more to me than it ever did to him.
The thought stung so bad it almost brought tears to my eyes.
A knock sounded on the door.
My eyes immediately flicked to the entry. I was on the couch, a blanket over my legs, my hair in a high ponytail because I hadn’t showered yet. Without anywhere to go or anything to do, I didn’t feel the need to prepare to meet the day.
I opened the door and came face-to-face with my father. “Hey, Dad.” It was unlike him just to stop by, but our reality had changed so dramatically that maybe this was our new normal. “What brings you here?”