Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
She chuckled, and he filled her glass with water. “I will do the proper lady way and only take a sip.”
Alex gave him an example, and he bowed his head to her.
They both chuckled, and it was moments like this that Alex had to doubt her insecurities. This wasn’t forced or fake. To Alex, this felt natural. There was no one around. His two friends were in the games room, which Roman, Antonio, Marlo, and Cash had all set up.
The peace and quiet was nice.
The only problem with it was when she was reminded of why she was here. “You know, my life has always been in danger. Being my father’s daughter and all, but I never realized just how much it was.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little … strange? That you have to protect me?”
Roman shook his head. “I’ve been fighting my whole life.”
“You mentioned how controlling your dad was. I assumed it was just because of the wedding, and you guys have arranged marriages all the time, don’t you?”
“We do.”
“But that’s not what you meant when you said your dad was controlling?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“How is he controlling?” she asked and then held her hands up. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s fine. I’m the heir to his empire. To all of this, and he needed to make sure that I was ready. He couldn’t have a weak son take the helm, and so, from as young as I can remember, it has been one test after another.”
“Test?”
“Yeah, stupid stuff, like telling me not to take the cupcake, and if I took the cupcake, I’d face the consequences, but to not take the cupcake would also have consequences as well.”
Alex frowned. “What?”
“If I took the cupcake, I was disobeying his instruction, and that was bad. If I didn’t take the cupcake, I wasn’t being a leader and taking what I wanted.”
“You were in a no-win situation.”
“I was,” Roman said.
“You were.”
“Yeah, what I did was ask for the cupcake. That was what I needed to do. I was then showing my dad respect and still going after what I wanted. That’s what he wanted.”
“How long did it take you to figure that out?” Alex asked.
“I did it on my first try.” Roman sipped his water. “But that is what started it all. Dad said I have an inbuilt alpha role. He’s always talking about that shit. How there are some men who are alphas, leaders, and others who are betas and designed to take orders, like my brother.”
“Your brother, Phillip, right?”
“Yep.”
“Have I met him?”
“Yes, you have met all of my brothers and sisters.”
“And you’re not close?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t pay my father for his children to be close.”
“So have you all been competing for his attention or to be better than each other?” Alex asked.
“No. We don’t have to. As my dad said, there’s no competition. I’ll be the one in charge, the boss, and everyone else will learn to fall in line.”
“That must have been tough,” she said.
“Not really. As you can see, I was never close to any of my siblings. Most of my life I’ve been training and preparing to take over. To lead.”
Alex didn’t like it. The life he spoke of was one of loneliness. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” he asked.
“It sounds lonely. You were all alone.”
“Alex, I wasn’t alone. I had Antonio, Marlo, and Cash. You want to know what we all have in common?” he asked.
“You’re all firstborns.”
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re a bit of a pain-in-the-ass know-it-all?”
She smiled and rested her head on his arm. “It would seem only you get to tell me that.”
“Damn straight.”
Why did this feel good?
Roman took her hand and locked their fingers together, and to Alex, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Chapter Thirteen
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Alex said.
Her hand was a little clammy within his. The limousine that had come to pick them up was slowing down, about to enter the gates of his father’s mansion.
This wasn’t the house where he grew up. Lucas Greco had a lot of suspicions and paranoia, so the home he entertained his people in was not the same home he lived in. Although there were often a few close-knit events at his main home, they were never the ones for such large gatherings.
“Your father is going to be there. I’m there. Antonio, Marlo, and Cash are going to be there.”
Alex turned to him. “That’s not helping.”
“What’s the matter? If you’re afraid someone is going to attack you…”
“No, I’m not afraid. I don’t, us, getting this right tonight. I don’t want to be responsible for potentially killing people, Roman.”
He took her hand within his and kissed her knuckles. This had to be the first time in his entire life that he’d ever truly been close to a woman. Really close. Kissing, snuggling, going to bed together without sex, talking about pointless shit. He’d never done that with any woman.