Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Joey looks away from me and taps a few times on his phone before he grins. And the grin that touches his lips is pure evil.
This man is not nice if the vicious glare is anything to go by.
Lucky for me, I’m not nice either.
“This is her, is it not?” He flips his phone, so I can see a picture of my sister with her arm around a boy at her school back in Italy.
My head snaps up as an unholy gasp leaves my mouth.
How did he do that?
How could he possibly know where Abigail is?
I pay for her to go to the best schools—schools where integrity and privacy are assured. He shouldn’t have been able to find out where she is or even the name she is using.
“How did you find her?” I ask with curiosity lacing my tone, even though I’m finding it harder to breathe every second with this new information.
“It was you they couldn’t find. They never thought to look right under our noses. That was very sneaky of you. But this…” He nods to the phone and pulls it back, sliding it into his pocket. “This was… stupid. Did you really think we wouldn’t find her?”
“My father signed those contracts. I had nothing to do with them and don’t want any part of them.”
“Our life doesn’t work like that, and you know it. You see, if I don’t uphold my contract, that will reflect badly on us as a family. And we can’t have that now, can we?”
“You could call it off.”
“No, I can’t,” he replies, leaving no room for argument.
But that doesn’t stop me from trying. “You can. You’re choosing not to.”
“I’m not, actually. I don’t want to marry you either.” His eyes roam over my body, taking in my long legs in my denim skirt to my midriff top, which shows off my belly and tanned skin, followed by my long brown hair and dark eyes.
“I prefer my women with a bit more meat on their bodies,” he remarks with a sinister smile on his lips.
I’m thin, there’s no denying that.
Every morning, I run for an hour straight.
Not for physical fitness, but for my mental health. It helps drain out the thoughts that run rampant inside my mind. I started after the first time my father hit me. To get out of the house and away from him I would run—run from him—and before I knew it, hours had passed. Every single time, I would arrive back in a state of exhaustion and simply collapse.
Now the old bastard is gone, but those demons still haunt me. They’re not as bad as they were, though. I can breathe out here, now I am away from that life.
I had hoped this day would never come.
I even believed it wouldn’t, considering how much time has passed.
But it seems my luck just ran out.
And in walked a tall, dark, and handsome villain.
“You aren’t my type either. I mean… you do have a cock, do you not?” I question, pursing my lips in thought simply to annoy him.
“I do. One you would be lucky to have between your legs.”
At his words, I can’t help but bark out a laugh. “Does that actually work? You saying that women should be pleased to have your cock because it’s such a damn gift?” I roll my eyes for good measure.
Joey steps closer and leans down into my face. “No, just you.” He smirks.
“Well, I don’t feel honored. Actually, I want nothing to do with you…” I glance down at his crotch, “… or your cock,” I say with a smile, bringing my eyes back to his as slowly as possible.
“It doesn’t matter what you want. You will be my wife, and you will not fight me on this.”
“Oh, I won’t?”
“No, because I’m sure Miranda would not be happy with the outcome.”
“You’d take her instead?” I ask, shock evident by my tone, but the look on his face answers my question before he does.
“I would. I mean… when she becomes of age, that is. She’s almost eighteen, is she not?”
My hands clench at my sides and my nails dig into my palms. In the fine print of the contract, it states, should he choose not to end her life, he could take her as his bride.
That’s never going to happen.
When I don’t respond, he adjusts his shirt collar and walks back to the door, and without turning around, he says, “I’ll see you at six tomorrow for dinner.” He pauses and looks back, assessing eyes roaming over me again. “Dress appropriately! I expect the best from my betrothed. Do not come looking like that.”
Before I can tell him to go fuck himself, the door slams behind him. I watch as he walks to the car waiting outside, then he gets in and it pulls away.