Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Twirling his fork in his spaghetti, he watched as Laura entered the room.
“You decided to join me?” he asked.
“One of the guards made me aware dinner was served.”
“My cook, Rosa, would have told him to alert you.” He watched as she approached, taking a seat beside him where he’d made sure a place was waiting for her.
Taking a bite of his spaghetti, he didn’t look away, waiting to see what she said. He noticed her hands were shaking.
“Do I make you nervous?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then why are you worried?”
“You don’t make me nervous. This does with you. I know you’ve got something planned because of what I said upstairs, and I don’t know what you’ll do.” She took a bite of her pasta before looking up. She used a napkin to wipe her mouth. “I’ve known you too long to think there won’t be some comeback from it.”
He smiled. “You think you know me, but you don’t.”
“I know enough about you.”
“Really?”
“You’re a young made man, and you’ve got the respect of those twice your age. Women flock to you because of the power you have, the wealth.”
“None of this impresses you,” he said. She’d had her own wealth and power before his father took it away. She was nothing more than a pawn, exactly how his father expected women to be.
“You and I, we’ve never gotten along, and yet we’re having to make a marriage work. I don’t know what you expect of me. You don’t make me nervous. I know you won’t hurt me because looking back there were times you could have really done so, and you never did.”
“You’re foolish to think I won’t hurt you. As I’ve told you many times, there is always a way to get what I want.”
He watched her swallow, her nerves still there, and she had no way of hiding them.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat your food.” Her stomach growled. “We will always fight like this, but you’re not going to do anything stupid. You need to keep your strength up.”
“Why do you want a baby so much?”
“I need an heir.” He didn’t know how much of the will she was aware of or even if she knew of the family’s intervention when it came to her mother having more children. The less she knew, the better.
He didn’t see a reason to hurt her anymore, and knowing his family and connections had done that could make things difficult between them.
For the rest of the meal, they ate in silence.
Afterward, Laura complained of being tired, and he watched her leave. Her ass was calling to him, but rather than go to her, he picked up their dishes and placed them in the sink. He never did trivial activities like washing dishes. Rosa could do them when she got here.
He was more interested in training and dealing with this built-up tension.
Laura was in his home, in his life, and he had to knock her up. He had a month to do it, as otherwise, his family could take matters into their own hands. They wanted the Davis fortune and would do anything to get it, even if it meant screwing his wife and putting a baby in her themselves.
He headed down to the basement where his gym was, and he removed his clothes, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He always had to keep himself at the peak of health and fitness, and his strength had to have no rival.
To start, he worked on his arms. Sitting on the edge of the bench, he lifted the weight with his left arm, counting to ten before doing the right. He went back and did the left arm, alternating between the two until he bench-pressed, lifting the weight up and pumping it before putting it back on the bar above him.
With his arms gaining a nice burn, he walked over to the treadmill. Putting the setting on a brisk walk, he began to build up a sweat, increasing the speed as he went. All the time he thought about Laura, about the way she tried to escape him.
How angry she looked at their wedding realizing no one was going to help her, how alone she felt. He didn’t know if she even realized he’d held her hand in a way, hoping to offer her comfort, but he doubted she felt anything of the sort. Her mind had been pulled away from him, so there was no chance of reaching her.
Once he was covered in sweat, he made his way toward the punching bag and began to hit it. He continued punching with all his might as the past and present merged. He’d had no idea his family wanted to keep Laura alive for him. He’d been given one job, to keep Laura safe and pure. Even as he hated her, he’d done what was required of him, and now his wife was upstairs, probably crying.