Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“Going somewhere?” Julian’s sinister voice meets my ears. His tone dark and restrained, promising a world of hurt. A hand wraps around my heart. Squeezing my eyes shut, I curse myself for being so stupid for thinking I could actually get away.
Slowly, I turn to face him. The devil, that’s what he looks like. Seconds away from pulling the rug right out from under my feet. I have to think… I have to. Swallowing thickly, an apology sits heavily on my tongue, but I can’t suck in enough air to form the words.
“You look like you’re scared that I’m gonna kill you now.”
Isn’t he? Isn’t this the whole point? My family dead, including me. There’s a giant lump in my throat that won’t let a single word pass, but apparently, my legs are still working because in the next moment, my fight or flight response kick in. My subconscious chooses flight, and before I can stop myself, I’m on the run.
Pushing my legs as fast as I can, I dash past him and across the terrace. Hoping that my shorter legs are at least faster than Julian’s, I run down the marble stairs, which are wet with morning dew. When there are only three steps left, I jump over them, my heels sinking into the soft grass before I take off on another sprint.
I think maybe I have a chance, but I don’t. Not against Julian. I make it about five more feet before his chest bumps into my back, his thick arms circling around me. One moment I’m running, and the next, I’m in the air, headed straight for the ground.
Somehow, he manages to turn us both mid-fall, so I land on top of him instead of the other way around, but the impact alone knocks the air from my lungs.
By the time I’m able to suck a breath into my lungs again, I’m pulled off the ground like a doll and thrown over Julian’s shoulder.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” he growls as he trudges through the grass and back to the house. I don’t even fight him, there is no hope, no point.
Burying my fingers into the back of his shirt, I grip the fabric like it’s a life raft, hoping that whatever he has planned for me is going to be quick and painless.
Ha, wishful thinking.
Julian doesn’t stop or even talk as he walks through the house, and I think that’s the scariest part of all. His silence. It’s the calm before the storm because I know what happens next.
He punishes me, or maybe even kills me?
Reaching the bedroom door, I feel myself start to shake. He pushes the door open with his foot and strides into the room, depositing me on the mattress. As soon as my back hits the sheets, I scurry backward.
Julian isn’t having it though and grabs me by the ankle, tugging me back to him. I kick and lash out the best I can, but I’m easily subdued by his strength.
Leaning into my face, I can see the betrayal in his eyes. The dark, bleak orbs burn with barely restrained rage.
“Did you really think you could make it off this property without me finding you? Huh? How did you get out of the room? Who helped you? Marie? Did she give you a key?”
Immediately, a different kind of fear fills me. If he hurts her, I don’t know what I’ll do.
“What? No! No, Marie did nothing, I swear!”
“Who then?”
“My father. He sent a woman to the bathroom at the auction. She gave me a key, I put it in my bra and hid it...”
His stormy blue eyes hold mine, a thousand emotions swirling deep in their depths.
“Why… Why would you try and escape? To go back to him, a man that sold you to me?” His legs hold me in place, and his fingers dig into my arms with bruising force. He looks like he is teetering on the edge of insanity, ready to nosedive into unknown waters. I don’t want to know what he has planned for me, but at that moment, I can’t think rationally.
Anger and sadness blend together, becoming one, and I snap. “You made him! You forced him to sell me! And what’s it matter? Why would I want to stay here with you? How are you any better?”
“You’re so naïve—such a stupid girl. Your father doesn’t care what happens to you. He would sell you to anyone, the highest bidder, no matter how cruel they were to you.”
“You’re lying! My father loves me. He wants me back! He said so himself.”
“Your father doesn’t want you back. He put a hit out on me, promising ten million and you as a prize to whoever kills me first. He doesn’t care where you are or what happens to you as long as you are not with me.”