Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I'm stunned. I'm hurt. And I'm livid. I don't want to be married to a man that wants to open our bed to other people.
But then I get a flat tire in the pouring rain and a sexy-as-hell gentleman helps me out.
My husband is in the game, so one look at the skull ring on this gentleman's left hand tells me exactly who he is.
The Skull King.
I didn't want an open marriage...but I definitely want this man.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
ASTRID
It was pouring rain when I drove down the narrow streets of Florence. A storm had just swept through the beautiful city, but the rain lingered, pounding into the cobblestones and making them shine in the moonlight. It was so heavy the raindrops thudded like rocks on the rooftop.
I heard a loud pop, my steering wheel lurched to the right, and I slammed on my brakes as I landed on the curb. Thankfully, there weren’t any cars parked there. Otherwise, I would have sideswiped them as I lost control of the vehicle.
The car came to a harsh stop, and my face almost hit the steering wheel. “Jesus…” I could barely see through the windshield, the downpour was so extreme. There were no other cars on the road because everyone was smart enough to stay home on a night like this. But I’d had an event at work, so I didn’t have a choice.
The screen on my dashboard told me what the problem was.
I blew out a tire. Must have run over a rock or a nail that I couldn’t see in the downpour.
I reached for my phone in the cupholder and tapped the screen, but it stayed black. I tapped it again, but it remained black.
It had been low on battery at the gala because I’d forgotten to charge it that morning. Looked like it had died in the meantime. I pulled out the charger from the glove compartment and plugged it into my phone. It was so dead that it still didn’t turn on. It would need a few minutes before it had enough juice to make a call.
Headlights were visible from an SUV, and then it pulled up in front of me, the red taillights in circles instead of squares, telling me it was a Range Rover. The lights went dark when they released the brakes, and the car was shut off.
I continued to watch, wondering if this person had pulled over for me.
A man left the driver’s seat and stepped into the pouring rain, just a silhouette at first, a tall man with thick arms that were visible because he didn’t wear a jacket. When he came closer to my car, he was displayed in my headlights.
And wow…he was fiiiiinnne.
Dark hair and eyes, a hard jawline, a very distinct and unmistakable “I don’t give a fuck about a damn thing” attitude. When he came to my window, he tapped his big knuckles against the glass, standing in the rain like it was a warm shower.
I hesitated before I rolled down the window, taking a second to snap out of the reverie. The second the window was down, the sound of the rain became amplified, a cacophony we had to yell over to hear each other.
He put one hand on the roof of the car and leaned down to speak to me, already soaked to the skin. There was a shadow on his jawline, popping tendons up his neck, veins down his muscular arms. “You alright?” A deep and masculine voice released into the night air, authoritative without aggression.
There were no words on my tongue because I was paralyzed by the sight of him.
“I saw your tire blow out when you ran over that scrap metal.”
“Oh, I didn’t see it.” I felt dwarfed by his confidence, felt hideous even though I’d looked my best for the art gala I’d just attended.
“You shouldn’t be driving in these weather conditions.”
“I-I had work.” I had a tough time just stringing a couple words together. All of my confidence was gone, and I didn’t like it.
“Pop the trunk. I’ll change it for you.”
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
He reached inside my car, and that was when I saw the ring on one of his fingers, a large diamond carved into the shape of a skull. He hit the button, and the mechanism clicked in the trunk to provide access to the spare tire.
“You don’t have to do that. If I could just borrow your phone—”
“It’ll only take me five minutes.”
“It’s pouring down rain—”
“Trust me, sweetheart. You don’t want to be on this street in the next fifteen minutes.” He walked to the back of the car, and the vehicle shifted as he pulled out what he needed to get to work. The car tilted sideways as he used the jack to lift it and the tire iron to loosen the lug nuts.