Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Instead, I was allowed to go to a private all-girl school, but I was monitored constantly. Desperation was beginning to kick in, way before I found out my father was basically selling me to Doyle Kelley. No, I knew I was going to have to do something way before then. After all, I’m twenty and I’m even doing college through virtual classes. I have no friends, no allies…nothing.
I tiptoe toward my father’s office, only to freeze when I see a line of security guards in my father’s conference room. Stupid me thought they would all be inside. Still, they’re all talking, and luckily, the office is several doors down from them. I press against the side of the wall and advance slowly. The one advantage I have learned from being me is quite simply my ability to fade into the woodwork and disappear. One should never underestimate the power of self-preservation.
My father’s office comes out at an angle in the hall. Which means it provides me with a little bit of cover from the hall itself. So, staying close to the wall is my friend. I’m almost home free when I hear a man growling. I stop, knowing I should be more worried about the fact that I’m in an area that I’m forbidden to be in—unless escorted by my father or one of my brothers. I can’t move. The voice is so powerful and full of anger. I’ve never heard anyone raise their voice around my father. That in and of itself is reason enough for me to pay attention.
“You came to me!” the voice growls out. I find myself biting my nails wondering if the next sound I hear will be gunfire. No one gets away talking to my father like that. I don’t know what the meeting is about. I have no clue as to who it is with either. All I know is that this week my father has been in meeting after meeting with some people from America. This must be someone who has never dealt with my father before, however. If he had, he would know to use more caution.
I wait for the sound of guns, or my father’s men carrying a man out in plastic—which has happened before. Instead, I hear this loud screeching noise like fingernails on a chalkboard. Then, the man’s voice booms out again.
“You don’t know who the fuck you’re dealing with, but you’re about to learn. I’m not the kind of man that can be led around by my dick. I don’t let my women and I sure as fuck won’t let you. You want to play fucking games and waste my time? You best prepare, old man. You best prepare.”
I stand completely still for a moment—in complete shock. I can’t remember anyone talking like that to my father, especially his business associates. I hear the doors to my father’s conference room burst open and I jump. I scramble to get in my father’s office and close the door—well, mostly. I leave a crack because I need to see the man who told my father off and managed to walk away still breathing.
As he comes into view, the breath lodges in my chest. He’s got a suit on, like everyone else that my father does business with. I hate them. When I look at my father in one of his suits, I just see something ugly trying to cover up its existence with expensive clothes.
This guy doesn’t look anything like my father’s normal associates. He looks like he might rip out of his suit—that’s not because of it being small or ill-tailored. It’s because he’s so much taller and muscular than any man I’ve seen. He looks like he’d be more at home in worn jeans and a T-shirt—or naked. I’d love to see him both ways. He’s got jet black hair that is cut short on one side and a little shaggy on the other. He’s got a full beard that’s neatly groomed, and I mourn the fact I only get a small glance of his face. There’s ink everywhere you can see, and it disappears under his clothes, and I find myself wanting to know just how much of it covers him.
He’s beautiful.
My heart stutters in my chest when he stops in the middle of the hall. I’ve been so engrossed in watching his long legs moving that the sudden stop jars me. I don’t get time to think about it, though. Because he starts looking around.
Can he feel me staring at him? Yikes. I scuffle away from the door and pin myself against the wall behind it. It takes a hot minute to catch my breath. I hear the fall of heavy footsteps on the tile. That should make me relax, but the steps are getting louder—not growing distant. He’s heading toward the office. I bite down on my bottom lip, needing to remain as silent as possible.