Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
His dark gaze drills into mine. Every word is measured. “What are you doing?”
His hold on me is painful. I understand his anger. I trespassed in his most private space—his grief. But when he starts dragging me to the gate, Sophie’s eyes flare.
“Stop,” I cry out, my voice soft but urgent. “You’re scaring her.”
At that, he freezes. He cuts his gaze to Sophie where she’s standing with round eyes in front of the graves, clutching Beatrice against her chest.
Heidi’s head appears over the curve of the hill. She jogs toward us with an anxious expression.
Angelo looks at where his fingers are digging into my flesh. He drops my arm. When he lifts his gaze to mine, his eyes are cold and hard. Lowering his voice, he orders in a biting tone, “Do not fucking move.”
He walks to Sophie and holds out his hand. The effort of controlling himself is visible in the harsh set of his jaw, but he manages a strained smile. “Heidi is going to take you to visit your brothers. She made a cake for teatime.”
Backtracking, Sophie shakes her head. “I don’t want to go. Beatrice doesn’t want cake.”
“It’s just for a short while,” he says. “Heidi will bring you back in time for dinner.”
Heidi reaches the gates. She shoots me a concerned look before charging down the path toward Sophie and then slowing her step as if not to frighten the child. “Come on, honey. Don’t you want to say hello to your brothers? We’ll come back afterward. I promise.”
Sophie’s gaze snaps to mine.
“It’s all right,” I say, looking at Heidi for confirmation.
The housekeeper nods. I trust her.
“Heidi will bring you back,” I say. “Mr. Russo and I just need a private moment.”
“Are you angry, Angelo?” Sophie asks with a quivering chin.
“No, darling,” he says, his eyes softening as he wraps his large hand around her small one. “Not with you.”
“You’ll bring me and Beatrice back?” she asks in a small voice as he hands her over to Heidi.
His nod is solemn. “I promise.”
“Are you sure, Sabella?” she asks.
I smile. “Absolutely. Go say hello to your brothers.” I wink. “And then you can come tell me everything.”
She doesn’t look convinced as Heidi steers her through the gate. She glances back over her shoulder at us until they disappear from view.
Angelo grips my arm and drags me from the graveyard. I stumble over a rock, but he doesn’t slow down. He doesn’t even stop to close the gate. He manhandles me toward the road. As we reach the top of the hill, I’m just in time to see Heidi and Sophie leave in the Land Rover. A 4x4 is parked behind.
Angelo pushes me ahead of him and opens the passenger door. He all but shoves me inside and slams the door. Then he stomps around the vehicle, gets in, and starts the engine.
“Put on your safety belt,” he bites out.
As soon as I’ve obeyed, he floors the gas. The road is bumpy. I bounce in my seat as we speed over potholes.
I study the profile of his furious face. “I didn’t mean to trespass.”
He clenches the wheel in a death grip. “Then what the fuck were you doing?”
“We just—” I was going to say we just happened to wander upon the site when a thought hits me. “Hold on. How did you know we were there?”
The muscles in his jaw bunch. I wait, but he doesn’t reply. I was right. He’s having me watched. That’s how he knew when Johan showed up yesterday. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Does that mean he knows I went to the village? If he did, why didn’t he say something? It’s not like him to keep quiet about my disobedience. He won’t let something like that slide. Unless he’s only had me watched since recently.
When we arrive at the house, he cuts the engine and jumps out of the vehicle before I have time to reach for my door handle. He comes around and yanks my door open. My breath catches as he grabs me around the waist and lifts me to the ground so fast that my stomach dips like when I’m on a rollercoaster. Gripping my wrist, he drags me to the door.
The minute we’re inside, he lets me go. I almost lose my footing from the momentum. He doesn’t give me time to utter a word. He doesn’t demand explanations or excuses. He slams the door and locks it. And then he turns to face me.
Everything he bottled up inside for Sophie’s sake in the graveyard comes tumbling out in the way he stares at me with vicious, dark eyes. All the hatred. All the bitterness. All the sorrow. Darkness pours from every molecule of his being as he unbuckles his belt.
I freeze. I’m not sure where he’s going to take this, if he wants to fuck me or kill me, but I know it’s the latter when, instead of unzipping, he pulls the leather from his waistband. Folding the belt double with the buckle in his palm, he advances on me.