Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
I walk upstairs, skipping a few steps, carefully placing my feet only on the spots I usually walk on, and go straight to her room. When I open the door, she’s seated down, brushing her hair in front of the mirror, still wearing the beautiful dress I bought for her.
“Vincenzo,” she mutters, her eyes glimmering as though she’s surprised to see me. “You’re back.”
I walk up to her, gazing at her beauty through the mirror. “You look gorgeous.”
She blushes, and I know, even if she were to deny it, my words obviously have an effect on her. “Thank you.”
“I have a gift for you.”
I snap my fingers, and the men waiting behind the door bring Dean inside.
Emilia’s pupils dilate, and she jolts up, knocking over the seat.
“Dean…” she mutters as the guard shoves him inside. “What are you …?”
My guard prods him with the gun, and her eyes home in on the bloodied hole in his shoe.
“Oh my God …” she murmurs, her hand propped in front of her mouth.
She almost approaches him until my guard takes off the safety of his gun. In the middle of the room, she stands frozen.
I walk up to her and place my hands on her shoulders.
“What did you do?” she asks, her voice unsteady. “You shot him?”
I whisper into her ear, “He hurt you, didn’t he?”
She doesn’t answer, but her hand slowly slides down to her belly.
“Exactly,” I say.
“No, I didn’t do it on purpose,” Dean says.
“You didn’t want to use a condom,” she says.
“I thought you were on the pill,” Dean stammers, sweating like crazy.
“I told you I wasn’t,” she replies, her voice getting more and more unhinged. Angered. Just like I anticipated.
Dean stares at her belly. “So it’s true? You’re pregnant?”
She nods, and I can feel her muscles coil up with rage.
“But I don’t want a freaking kid,” he mutters. “I don’t even know you.”
My fingers dig into her skin. “You don’t even know her? When you stuck your d—”
Emilia’s hand on mine silences me. “I don’t really know him either.”
I frown, confused.
“We just had … sex,” she mutters.
“And I fucking paid for it,” he adds.
Paid for it?
“You accepted it,” Dean says. “You knew this could happen.”
“Enough,” I say, and I waltz toward the guard, take his gun from him, and point it at Dean’s head. “You’ve given her enough pain.”
“Stop.” Emilia’s voice prevents me from pulling the trigger.
I turn to look at her.
“This isn’t right,” she says.
Dean whimpers in fear.
“He hurt you,” I say.
“I know …” She gazes down at her belly. “But it was my choice to let him pay for sex. I chose to do that. Not him.” She averts her eyes, unable to look at either of us. “I needed the money. Badly.”
My nostrils flare, and I lower my gun. Then I nod at the guard so he leaves us alone.
“Come here,” I say.
After a while, I hear her steps behind me.
I turn and place the gun in her hands.
“This was my gift to you … I’ll leave it up to you to decide his fate.”
She holds it with both hands, almost as if it’s too heavy of a burden for her to carry.
“Please,” Dean mutters. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I never thought it would. I swear, I will do whatever you want.” He’s crying now. “Please, don’t kill me.”
She stares at him, her fingers latching onto the gun like it’s her last lifeline, and all she wants to do is end her own misery.
But then she chucks it away.
“Bad choices made me pregnant,” she growls. “But they won’t turn me into a murderer.”
“Thank you,” Dean splutters with drool and tears all over his face.
“I never want to see your face near me or my mother’s house ever again. Do you hear me?”
He nods a few times.
She’s much more forgiving than I expected.
And much more merciful than I would have been.
Through gritted teeth, I tell Dean, “Leave.”
And he runs off, skittering away like a bug I was just about to squash.
Emilia was generous enough to let him keep his life. More generous than I ever would’ve been if I was in her position.
I turn to face her, but she seems unsteady on her feet. Just before she falls, I grab her and hold her against me. “Whoa. Are you okay?”
She breathes a few sighs. “That was … rough.”
“I’m sorry if I ended up hurting you too now,” I say. “I merely wanted to offer you a chance at payback.”
I can feel her swallow against my chest, and it makes all kinds of dirty images float through my head.
“But you didn’t take it.”
“I don’t want to be a monster,” she says.
What an innocent angel. Precious. Desirable.
She looks up at me with those same doe-eyes she gave me when I first saw her, and something about them unfurls a deep-seated desire that I’d kept buried for a long time.