Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I know I'll seal my own death if I so much as take one fucking step in his direction, but even knowing that it's still incredibly hard to walk away.
"I fucking dare you," Mr. Banks growls.
I look the man in the eye, vowing in my head to be the one to hear his last breath before turning around and walking toward the door.
"See, Angel?" Nathan says before I step out of the house. "No one can ever love you the way I do."
Chapter 34
Brielle
He knows I'm thinking about Beck, but he hasn't mentioned the man since he came to the door and asked for me to leave with him.
I fought so hard to look unaffected, to tell him that he needed to forget about me, that there was no saving me. I wanted to apologize for what his connection to me would mean for him, but I didn't even have to be hurt for my secrets to have been revealed. Nathan knew who he was on sight which means he probably knows everything.
Beck might not have been able to see it, but there were only ever a handful of things that would make that little vein under Nathan's left eye pulse, and I watched it vibrate with every word he spoke to my lover.
It's been hours since Beck left, and all Nathan instructed me to do was to go get a shower, and that he'd speak to me later.
I've always had free will to move around the house unless I was instructed otherwise, so I don't stay in my room after my shower is done. I head into the living room with my head held high and grab a book off the bookshelf. There's one spot not taken up by goons, and it puts my back to the large front window.
The house, as perfect as it looks at first glance, needs some repairs. I sit for hours, with my eyes locked on the book but not reading, as the wind outside creeps into the house through a bad seal on the window. Despite the chill bumps on my arms I don't move or ask for a blanket. I don't leave the room to get a sweater. I see it as another test, and since Nathan hasn’t made a single threat to me since he arrived last night, I've managed to let some form of hope sink inside of me.
There are a lot of things I can tolerate, and the silent treatment is one of them. I know it will build to more. I know he's livid with me, but maybe, just maybe, my being gone for over a year has made him value my presence more.
I scoff at the idea and when I lift my head, I see every goon in the living room staring at me, and I imagine they've been doing so since I sat down. I don't recognize any of them from my time with Nathan before, and I wouldn't put it past the man to have killed every man he had working for him because of their failure at keeping me at the house.
I don't feel an ounce of sympathy for any of them if that were the case.
Nathan comes out of his room fully decked out in a nice suit, straightening the cuffs of his shirt under his jacket.
I stand and place the book back on the shelf.
"Do I need to change, Father?" I ask, knowing that the leggings and t-shirt I have on won't do for leaving the house.
"Is there anything in your closet that will fit?" he asks as he walks toward the kitchen without bothering to look in my direction.
I know the question is rhetorical. He just wants me to know that he's noticed the ten or so extra pounds I'm carrying. I resist the urge to wrap my arms around my middle in an effort to hide it. I also work very hard at not recalling the way Beck's mouth felt on my stomach and how he told me I was perfect when I mentioned the weight gain to him.
"You're in good hands here, Angel. I have a meeting to attend."
I don't have to look over my shoulder to know that at least one of the guards is more than a little excited that I'll be left alone here. The man is also either stupid or insane to think he can touch me. I swallow, considering that Nathan might've given him permission. The last time he told someone they could touch me, they actually got my pants around my ankles before he came into the room and shot the man. He was still breathing when he was dragged from the room, but I doubt he lived much longer.
Nathan pretended he was my rescuer, but the man had already taunted me, telling me that my daddy was excited to share me with others.