Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I push to my feet and walk out of the room. I’ve had enough for the night. Tomorrow, more secrets will be uncovered. All I can do is pray we’re ready for them.
KILLING A PRINCE
BRIELLE
When I first arrived in Black Hollow, I didn’t think my life would take the turn is has. And while the wedding is only a few days away, I can’t stop thinking about the future. I’ve been ignoring all those worries for the past few months. But there’s no more hiding now.
I can’t turn away from the truth—I’m here under the pretext of marriage, but I received a message from my father yesterday, and I can’t ignore him. He’s my blood. But I’ve also fallen in love with the three men who’ve protected me since I walked onto this island.
“Are you ready?” The voice from behind me has me turning to find Valen.
It’s been a welcome distraction having him around. Since the day I met him, Val has been a force of calm. He’s not like the other two, he’s got a sensitive side, but he only shows it to me. At first, I thought it was an act, but having seen him around others, around the students in his class, I realise I’m the only one he never hides it away from.
He’s watched me blossom over the past three months, and now that we’re here, with me standing in a white gown having the dressmaker pin and prod at the material, there’s something in Valen’s eyes.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready,” I tell him. “I thought this would be easier as time passed, but…” I allow my words to drift into nothing as I’m finally done and able to get out of the dress.
Valen helps me down from the podium, and I quickly slip on a dressing gown. His hands grip my upper arms, and he holds me steady. When I glance up, I notice an emotion in his expression I didn’t see when he walked in.
“If there is anything bothering you,” Valen says as he looks at me. “You’ll tell me. Won’t you?”
It’s now or never. I could admit the truth, I could tell him everything that’s been eating away at me since yesterday, but I know it won’t do any good. It won’t change my father’s plans.
All my life I thought Papa saw me as more than a pawn in a game. I grew up with him training me in ways that now make sense. Back then, I was just proud to have his attention. My mother left when I was very young, so it was only us, and I wanted my papa to love me.
And he did.
But now he expects me to obey him and go against everything I’ve come to love, I’m struggling. And Valen can see it written all over my face. Of the three men in my life, Valen is the one I’m closest to. Well, he’s the one who’s able to read me the best.
If I was anywhere near Judah, I know he’d sense something was amiss, but he wouldn’t worry about me. I think he sees me as an equal now. The queen to his king. Where as Valen still sees the girl.
“Nothing is wrong,” I finally lie.
The words taste like poison on my lips, but there’s nothing more I can say. Either way, someone is going to die tomorrow, and I just need to make sure I’m there to stop the war that’s about to shatter my world.
“I’ve come to know you rather well, princess,” Valen says, his voice taking on a tone I’ve only ever heard him use with his students. Almost as cold as Judah’s. “Lying isn’t your strong suit.”
I want to tell him everything, but I don’t want to betray my father. If I do, I’ll have to live with the guilt, but then I look at Valen. I meet his gaze, and I see the love and affection he holds for me. The Princes didn’t have to accept me, to trust me, or to allow me into their private world. I would never tell anyone their secret, because it’s not my story to tell. However, right now it feels as if I’m being ripped in two.
“There have been times in my life when I thought I had escaped this world,” I tell him. “I knew my father walked away from the protection of the mafia. But he never once told me the real reasons, and I suppose in many respects, I was too naive to question him.”
“Come,” Valen says suddenly, and he leads me from the library, where I was getting my fitting done, and into Judah’s office.
The room is empty of the usual guards and Capos, but there, behind his desk, is the man who will soon be my husband.