Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I gasp, his words hitting me like an assault. I don’t know what to say or do, but in the end, I don’t do anything because Marco doesn’t give me a chance. His lips slam down against mine. I try to remain strong and resist his kiss, but I’m too shocked by his words. They’ve left me raw and wounded and I don’t even understand why. His tongue thrusts in my mouth. At first, I don’t respond but…
Maybe it says I’m weak. I feel that way. I’ve missed Marco so much since I left. In my head and in my heart, I’ve already said goodbye to him. I never expected this. I never thought I would have his lips on mine again, so I give in. I take his kiss and moan into his mouth. He swallows the sound down and our tongue goes volatile. His fingers bite into my hips as he pulls me into his body, grinding me against the hard evidence of his arousal. I hold onto his biceps, my knees going weak, my fingernails biting into his skin—even through his clothes. My lungs burn as the kiss continues and when it finally ends, I fall against his chest. His face buries into the curve of my neck. His hot breath slides over my skin and I feel his lips press against my throbbing pulse point.
“Fuck, baby. I’ve missed you.”
My heart squeezes in my chest and I close my eyes against the bittersweet pain that hits me.
“Marco…”
“You’re going to be my wife, Ena.”
“If I agree, you can’t ask me to give up my job. Talk to your employer. See how soon they can transfer you back here. I will allow some leniency, but you will not run away from me again. You need to come to terms with the fact that we’ve come too far to turn back.”
“I’ve come to terms with the fact that I never knew you. You’re threatening to destroy my father if you don’t get your way.”
I don’t know, maybe I expected him to relent and smile at me in that easygoing way that he’s always treated me with. Instead, he pulls back showing me his face is impassive. “I will use whatever is at my disposal to make sure I have you and you are safe by my side.”
“Even when I don’t want to be,” I mumble.
“You say you don’t, your body says you do.”
“Sex is just sex without emotion behind it.”
“Lucky for you that you’ll only have one man between your legs and that man is me. You love me. I’ll remind you of that.”
“Love can die, especially when it’s abused.”
“Love is not so fickle, baby.”
“How would you know?” I huff out.
“Why does it feel like you are trying to make me angry again, Ena?”
“I have no idea,” I lie. When he’s angry, he’s easier to dislike.
“Do we have a deal?” he asks. And I force myself to pull back and look up at his face.
“I will tell my employer that I need to transfer back to Athens, but it will be on their schedule, Marco, not yours.”
“You will visit me. I won’t go weeks without you—not again.”
“Let’s see what they say on the time. I agree if it’s over a month, I will come to visit,” I respond, praying he agrees.
“Ena—”
“I need time alone to regroup, Marco. I can’t do that with you insisting what I want and feel. You don’t know me.”
“I know you, Ena.”
“I’ll call work tomorrow and we can go there. You call off your bulldogs concerning my father.”
“You’re not going to try and renege on our deal if I agree to this shit?”
“Would it do me any good if I did?”
“Not a damn bit.”
“Then, no. I won’t change my mind.”
“Give me a kiss and we’ll call the others back in and tell them the wedding is still on.”
“Marco, I don’t—”
His lips stop anything else I was about to say. I try to remain solid against him, but I eventually give in. That seems to be a theme when it comes to Marco. I don’t know how I’m going to handle marrying him. I find myself hoping once I start work in the US, he’ll go back to forgetting I’m alive. At the same time, I don’t want him to.
Jesus, I’m a mess.
Chapter 27
Helena
Three Weeks Later
“I’m fine, Melina. Stop worrying.”
“This is not like you, Helen. You’ve always been more sensible than me when it came to this kind of stuff.”
“And where did that get me? I waited forever on your brother. That’s over. It’s time he waits for me. I need to spread my wings.”
I sound confident. I doubt she can hear the mess that I really am. In the two weeks since my showdown with Marco things have changed—at least a little.
I’m working in Phoenix, Arizona at an art gallery and I actually love what I do. I’ve been able to come in and gain several big-name artists, but more than that, I’ve started a local talent display that has become so popular it is now the number one money maker for the entire gallery. I now have a list of artists submitting their work, hoping to get their work seen. For the first time in my life, I feel accomplished.