Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
“How did you even know to find us here?”
“I’ve had your house bugged for months,” he readily confessed. “I knew about this trip the moment Daniella booked it.”
A hollow laugh escaped me. I wasn’t even shocked. How could I be, after everything?
“The only thing I didn’t account for,” he continued, his tone darkening slightly, “was the men.” He set the comb down. “You let him put his lips on you, Mint.”
“It wasn’t, that didn’t mean anything,” I started, but he cut me off.
“Why did you let him do it?”
“I didn’t—he just—”
“You let him.” His voice was low, lethal, and unrelenting. Leather-clad fingers trailed down my cheek, almost tender.
My mind zoomed back to what started all of this in the first place. “You have no right when this all began because of the way you talk to other women.”
“How can you circle back to that when this night is to prove the exact opposite?”
He took hold of my face and made me hold his masked gaze. “I’ve never cheated on you. These women you’re so fixated on?” His tone was icy now, but there was an unmistakable edge of disdain. “They were begging for me, Mint. Begging for something they thought they were getting. My brothers fucked them all at least twice before they killed them. They had no idea who was behind the mask. That’s the thrill of it.”
I didn’t think this was making it better.
“They never knew my real name,” he went on, his voice softening but losing none of its intensity. “They never heard the sound of my voice, never touched my body. They didn’t know how I feel.” He leaned even closer, his mask mere inches from my face. “I’m all yours. No one else gets any parts of me. No one else deserves it.”
His words were impossible to ignore, the conviction in his tone chilling.
There was no hesitation, no doubt—just raw, unfiltered obsession and the sick, treacherous part of me that loved him no matter how horrific he was.
“You don’t understand yet,” he continued, his voice dipping lower, dangerously intimate. “I wake up every morning, and my first thought is of you. I go to sleep every night wondering how I got so fucking lucky to live in your world.” He gently stroked the side of my face. “I want nothing more than to spoil you, to give you every dream you’ve ever had.”
“Stop it.” I tried to pull away, but he held me tighter.
“You’ve always wanted to travel the country, haven’t you? We’ll do that. I’ll take you to every state, and every city you’ve ever dreamed of seeing. And that farm you’ve always talked about? I’m going to make sure you get that. We’ll build a life there. A perfect life..”
Tears burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I was so fucking tired of crying.
“And babies,” he added. “You’ll have all my babies. I know how much you want a family of your own. Now that all the cards are on the table, we can continue building our future. Nothing’s holding us back anymore.”
His words wrapped around me like chains.
“I’m going to marry you,” he continued, “You’re going to be my Mrs. Carson.” His hand still cradled my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “If you take nothing else away from this, let it be that you are it for me,” he swore.
“And if I want none of that?” I dared to ask.
“Then you’ll have to tell me what you do want with the understanding whatever it may be, I’m going to be there.” His gaze, even hidden behind a mask, felt like it was burning through me.
“I will do every morally bankrupt, vile, terrible thing to keep you,” he promised, his voice unwavering. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t sacrifice to make sure you’re mine, to make sure you’re safe, and to make sure you never leave me again.”
Each word was a confession, a vow, and a threat all wrapped in one. I couldn’t look away, couldn’t move as my mind screamed for me to run. Run where? I just tried that and got nowhere but fucked in the dirt.
“Now we’re going to walk out of here, and you’re going to choose how this ends.” He let go of my face and took my hand, his grip firm but not forceful, and led me out of the bathroom.
My legs felt like jelly as I descended the stairs, each step a monumental effort. The house felt heavier somehow, the air thick and oppressive like it knew something I didn’t. When we reached the dining room, my stomach lurched. The space had been rearranged.
The table was on its side, shoved carelessly against the far wall. In its place sat two chairs facing one another, bound and gagged occupants in each. Cherish and Ryan. Their knees nearly touched, their faces streaked with dried tears.