Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
“You don’t get to ask that,” he shook his head, stepping forward. Although I knew he wasn’t aware that he was doing it, his goal was to intimidate me with his size.
A fury of my own awakened. “Don’t I?” I snapped, going toe-to-toe with him. “When I’m the one he tormented for years. Who he beat for years. Who he controlled. I’m the one who lived through that. Suffered through that. Me.” I pointed to my own chest as I glared at him. “And I had one light through all of that. One gift. That was my daughter. My whole freaking world. I would go to war for her. I would die for her. I would do anything and everything in my power to ensure that she doesn’t have to feel a moment of pain. So I will suffer through knowing that Preston is breathing, even though he may not deserve to, because my daughter does not deserve to suffer.”
I was shouting now.
Almost screaming.
My lungs burned in pain from the force of it, and my head throbbed with my anger, but I wasn’t going to back down. Not on this.
Swiss was examining me coldly. In a way I fucking hated. Like he had the day Preston arrived.
He stepped back, pacing the patio like a violet animal before he turned to face me once more. “I get what you’re saying,” he said softly. “I don’t want to hurt your daughter. Or you. But I’m not gonna let him walk out of here. Not after what he did.”
His words were set in stone. As if they were law.
Swiss was used to his menace getting him places. Used to his ruthlessness resulting in him getting what he wanted through fear and violence.
So here I was again, with another man, one completely different than my husband in every way, but one who still planned to take away my power.
If I let him.
“If you do that, I’m gone,” I hissed, arms folded in front of me.
He blinked, jerking as if I’d hit him.
I was too far gone to feel anything but satisfaction at landing that blow. “I swear to God, if you take my choice away from me, take my control away from me and do this, I’ll leave. You’ll never see me again.” Although the thought of that filled me with dread and panic, I meant every word.
I was just learning what my boundaries were, my limits. Because I was just learning about who the hell I was. But when it came to protecting my child, I knew my limits. I knew I didn’t have any fricking limits. I would die for her, kill for her, hurt every day of my life if that meant I got to save her from an ounce of pain.
I also knew that as much as I trusted Swiss, I wasn’t going to let him make decisions for me. Especially when those decisions pertained to killing my husband.
His expression had changed. It was no longer cold. It was hot. Hot with fury. He stepped forward, the air seeming to shimmer around him. My heart thundered in my chest, but I stood my ground.
“You are not threatening to leave me, Countess,” he purred with violence.
I jutted my chin up. “You are not using your size and general badassery to intimidate me just over a week after I was beaten within an inch of my life,” I snapped back.
Swiss flinched and stepped back, already looking apologetic. But I wasn’t having that. I was too pissed. And hurt. And confused. I hadn’t forgotten how quickly he’d abandoned me for Preston. I couldn’t blame him for what happened to me—how was he to know that my husband was an abusive piece of shit? —but I could blame him for not fighting for me. For being cruel to me, cold to me, the moment he found out I was married, without giving me a moment to explain.
But I couldn’t call him out on that now. Not when he was punishing himself so completely. It was written all over his face. The guilt he felt.
My eyes burned with unshed tears, from the pain caused by what I was expressing coupled with the pain coming from the injuries all over my body. “You have a choice,” I said, my voice sounding stronger than I felt. “You feed your vengeance and you get only death. You don’t get me.” I paused for a handful of heartbeats, letting my words sink in.
“Or you respect my wishes. You save my daughter from a lifetime of hurt. You get life. A life with me.” I faltered for a second, wondering if that was too presumptuous. Before all of this, he’d spoken easily and freely about his future. One he made clear included me. But then things had changed. He’d changed. On a dime. “If that’s what you want,” I added on a whisper. I didn’t let the look on Swiss’s face penetrate once I uttered that.