Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 148612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 743(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 743(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Valentino easily held the burning papers out of reach as he leisurely carried them to the wastebasket, allowed them to drop inside and burn to ash. “An arranged marriage? You decided to enter into a marriage with someone you don’t know? Why would you even consider such a thing, Emmanuelle? I noticed you made a point that your husband has to be from Europe and you two must live, work and stay there.”
He turned back to face her. His eyes were fierce. So dark green they were fathomless. Merciless. He was beyond angry. “I’m so damn sick of you deciding you’re going to leave me. You’re not. Do you really think you’d be safe there from me? I would find you in Europe. You say no cheating. You want someone who would respect the marriage vows. You say in those papers that you would do the same.”
He took a step toward her. Stalking her. Her heart began to pound and her mouth went dry. She sank back onto her heels suddenly afraid of what he might do. She’d never seen Valentino like this. The tension in the room coiled as tight as the tension in her stomach.
“But you aren’t so certain you can keep those vows if you’re around me. That’s why you’re insisting on finding someone in Europe, isn’t that right, Emme?”
She pressed her lips together and curled her fingers around the sheet. Of course, he was right. The physical pull between them was far too strong. She would never be able to resist him. She wasn’t going to chance cheating on her husband. She wouldn’t be like Phillip, her father, using the shadows to sneak around for sex. She would stay in Europe and do her best to make her husband happy. When she made up her mind to do something, she was very good at it.
Val halted just at the end of the bed. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit, Emme. I really have. I’m not even going to pretend to understand why you would want to enter into an arranged marriage, but it wouldn’t stop me from going after what’s mine, and you’d better be very clear on that. You’re mine. We made that agreement a long time ago.”
Fury ripped through her. “No, Val, we didn’t. You made the decision for both of us. I had no idea what was happening. You didn’t give me the courtesy of letting me know. I was a teenager. You were an adult. You had knowledge of what your shadow was doing to mine. You could have told me, but you chose not to.”
“You wanted to be with me. I asked you multiple times, Emmanuelle. We talked about our relationship, how difficult it would be, but how it would be worth it. You agreed. We both agreed. I wasn’t alone in that decision.”
She sat back on the bed, shaking her head, wanting to throw something at him, hating the way he reverted to calm when she was a mess. He always did that, becoming the adult while she was a child. He was older than her, and he led their relationship. He always had. She had been caught in the sensuous web he created, and he surrounded her with heat, with fire. She never seemed to be able to break free long enough to take a breath and think clearly.
She couldn’t let him get away with it this time. She was fighting for her life, and she knew it. In a way, she was fighting for his life as well. She was no pushover. She wasn’t her mother. She loved Valentino, and the moment he treated her the way Phillip had treated Eloisa, she would kill him, or force him to kill her.
“I was too young to know better, Val. I was so caught up in the sex that I didn’t realize what was happening to my shadow until it was too late. You counted on that, didn’t you?” She didn’t take her eyes from his. Holding that steady gaze. She had to know the truth.
He didn’t so much as flinch. He’d settled easily in the chair again, facing her, looking every inch the man in charge, just as he had in the conference room. It was unsettling to think she was facing the crime lord and not the man she loved, but she refused to back down. She wasn’t living with half truths.
He nodded. “Yes.”
One leg was out from under the sheets, her normal way of sitting or sleeping. He reached for her ankle and wrapped his long fingers around her bare skin. The moment they were skin to skin, she felt that connection deep, the sizzling flames flashing along her nerve endings, spreading fast through her body like a wildfire out of control. She tried to pull her leg away, but he tightened his grip.