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)
She didn’t have a life.
Sitting in the guest bedroom, she felt so alone.
Afraid.
This wasn’t the sex Marcus’s father wanted. They wanted her to have a boy, and now, she didn’t know how far her husband was willing to go to satisfy the men in his family. Would he hurt their daughter?
The door to the bedroom opened.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Marcus said. “I don’t want you sleeping here anymore. You’re my wife, Laura. You won’t be staying in here.” He walked over to her closet and started to pull out her clothes.
“You’re not going to talk about what happened at the doctor’s office? You haven’t got some mad confession to make about how we’re going to have a little girl?” She hated how emotional she got as she got to her feet, pushing the shirt down.
She wore larger clothes, always had, but for some reason, it only seemed to enhance her pregnant state.
“Your father is going to try to hurt my baby,” she said.
Marcus moved toward her. “I will not let anything happen to our daughter.” He cupped her face. “I know I haven’t given you a single reason to trust me, and I don’t blame you. I will never harm our child.”
“But you’ve always said you will follow your father’s orders. How can you not?”
“I will not hurt our baby.” He sank to his knees on the floor before her.
She gasped as he pressed his face to the fabric of her shirt, kissing her. It was the most they had touched in the past four months. She had been too afraid to even allow herself to get close to him.
Unable to resist touching him, she put her hand on his head, running her fingers through the strands of his hair.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“No. You don’t have to be sorry. I am.” He kissed her stomach again. “I promise you, Laura Giovanni. Our daughter will live, and we will raise her to be a good woman. You and I. No one will ever take her away, or cause you harm.” He stood up and staring into his stark blue eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. She had no reason to doubt him.
“I … I want to come back to our bed.”
“Good, because that is where you’re supposed to be. With me, in our bed.” He pushed some hair back from her face.
“I’m bloated.”
“You’re beautiful. I won’t have anyone else tell you differently. You’ll always be beautiful to me.”
She paused as he tried to lead her out of the room. “Beautiful?”
He stopped.
“You think I’m beautiful?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve never said that to me before.”
“I mean it.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “You think I’m beautiful.” It seemed to strange to think of him as seeing her beautiful.
“You’re not used to having a compliment?”
“I’m not used to you being the one to give me one.”
He cupped her face with both of his hands, tilting her head back. “Then you’re going to be in for many surprises, Laura. I do think you’re a beautiful woman.”
“I bet you say that to all of the women.”
“No. I don’t tell women what I think of them. It’s not my place to do that.” He ran his thumb across her lip. “But with you, you’re my wife, and I will tell you the truth.”
“You want me to believe you haven’t been to see another woman? We haven’t touched … or done anything.”
“I took my vows seriously when I married you, Laura. I haven’t been to see any other woman. I won’t lie to you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Now, let’s get you back into my bed, where you belong.”
****
Three days later, Marcus wasn’t happy when his wife didn’t pick up the new cell phone he’d given her. There was no reason or excuse for her not to be picking up. He called the house line, only for it to keep on ringing.
Snapping his cell phone closed, he drove toward his home, seeing the car parked outside. Entering the gate, he knew something wasn’t right. The man on the front door was dead, bleeding out across the steps.
He didn’t put a call out to his men in case of Laura’s safety.
No one had ever tried to attack him at home, and as he made his way inside, he saw Rosa was also dead, shot to the head. A tray had fallen from her grip, and it looked like she’d been coming downstairs.
He heard the sounds of screams, his wife’s, and he rushed upstairs.
Without waiting for backup, he went straight to his room where he saw Laura being pinned down. Three men held her down as she screamed at them to leave her alone, and their baby. She was a fighter, but he caught sight of a man he had seen many times.
A doctor.
“I have my orders, I’m afraid.”
Without another word, Marcus fired his gun at the men and took all three of them out before the doctor could even run. As he tried to make his escape, he shot a bullet into the man’s knee.