 by Bella Jewel.jpg)
Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Darkness in its finest form is still so much better than pain. If you asked me two months ago, I would say I choose darkness over pain. I’d lay my life down and allow myself to be swallowed up in darkness before I ever gave my heart over to pain again. It’s a choice, really, isn’t it? People know what they can live with and what they can live without. I know what I can live with, and I certainly know what I can’t live without.
I shouldn’t say him, I know that.
He’s not everything.
But to me—inside my broken, pitiful heart—he is.
He’s the only thing that has breathed any sort of life into my dead soul and now ... he’s gone.
He’s gone because he made a choice.
Her.
His wife.
It doesn’t matter how many times I say those two words in my mind, they’re not sinking in. No, they’re nothing but a blur.
A wife.
He’s married.
Jagger, the man I’ve fallen completely in love with, is married.
And she’s beautiful, the kind of beautiful I’ll never be.
Everything we’ve shared feels like a lie.
Everything I am feels broken.
So, I did the only thing I knew how to do.
I ran.
I ran as far away as I could, unable to face the pain, the betrayal.
But I know this much is true ...
I can’t hide forever.
Soon, I’ll have to face him again.
Soon, I’ll have to accept my new reality, without him in it.
1
“Have you been here long?”
I lift my sunglasses and sit them on top of my head and stare up at the tanned, gorgeous man looking down at me. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of wet shorts that are grabbing his crotch in a way that tells everyone here he’s packing well. His dark hair is slicked back, and he’s flashing me the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.
“Fourth day,” I murmur, not in the mood for company.
Let alone company that comes in the form of a player.
I’m in Italy, in a town I can’t pronounce the name of, lying on the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen in my life, and wondering what the hell it is I’m going to do with myself when this little vacation of mine ends. I’ve had way too much alcohol in the last few days and I’ve barely eaten, which isn’t a good combination.
The worst part? I didn’t tell anyone where I was going.
I packed a bag and left, telling Ava I was going away for a while and that I would be safe.
I hugged Jenny as she begged me to stay.
But I didn’t see Jagger again. When I got home, he was gone. Him and his perfect wife? Gone. Not a call. Nothing. He left and didn’t even try to reach out to me. I don’t know if that hurts more than the fact that he’s married, or that his wife came back from the dead to be with him. Either way, he hasn’t reached out to me, and that breaks my heart.
“You’re American,” the Italian stallion grins, sitting on the sun lounge beside me.
“I didn’t invite you to join me,” I mutter, taking another sip of the fruity cocktail in my hand.
“Let me guess,” he says, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees, “you’re here because you’re heartbroken and you’re trying to escape?”
I glare at him.
His grin gets bigger. “All the American women are here for the same reason. What is it about my country that brings you here to mend your broken heart?”
“Oh, your country?” I say, raising my brows. “Sorry, sir, I didn’t realize I was speaking to a ruler.”
His grin widens. “I like you. What’s your name?”
“Willow,” I huff, staring at my glass and realizing I’m out. Again.
“My name is Luca. I’ll get you another drink if you save this seat for me.”
“I’m not interested in some whirlwind romance, Luca. Don’t get ideas.”
He laughs. “Then I’ll just be an ear for you to cry to, and a shoulder for you to lean on.”
God, he’s good. I’ll give him that.
He stands and disappears to the bar at the hotel I’m staying at, which is sitting right on the beach. How he knows I’m staying there, I don’t know, but I’m not complaining.