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)
Her accent catches me off guard.
It always takes me a while to get used to it when I cross state lines. Sometimes it’s simple to forget.
“How is she?” I ask.
“Still recovering. You can go visit her if you want to.”
I don’t wait another second and put down my cup so I can be with her. I know Emilia needs someone now, more than ever before, and if I can be that person for her, it’d be my honor.
I head inside the recovery room, where she’s lying in a bed, her eyes turned away from the door, away from the world.
Tucking my hands into my pocket, I say, “Hey.”
Emilia wipes away her tears before turning to look at me. “Hey.”
“How do you feel?”
“Shitty.” She snorts and laughs, then cries some more.
I reach for her hand and squeeze. “Are you upset it’s over?”
She shakes her head. “No. I just feel so … guilty for being so relieved that it’s gone.”
I smile and lean in to press a kiss to her cheek. “Don’t feel guilty. You were not ready.”
“No, I wasn’t,” she replies. “And I didn’t want Dean’s baby. I never did.”
My nostrils flare just from the sound of his name. “Do you want me to end him? Because I will if you’ve changed your mind.”
Her pupils dilate. “No, no, no. It was my choice to let him pay to have sex with me. We needed the money, and Mom said—”
“Mom?” I raise a brow.
She blushes and averts her eyes. “She … was the one who taught me how to sell my body.”
“Sell your body?” I repeat, my blood turning into pure rage.
“She said that it would make me useful,” she adds. “That I could earn my stay.”
Fuck.
It takes every ounce of restraint in me not to waltz out of this clinic right now and go find me that woman’s head.
“She was your mother,” I say through gritted teeth. “And you’re telling me she sold her daughter for cash?”
Emilia nods. “We didn’t have the money to pay rent or food, and no one would hire her while she was on drugs.”
“On drugs?” I’m almost spitting fire by now.
She licks her lips. “I didn’t touch them because of the way they made her behave.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I tell her. “Drugs are the worst kind of thing to do to your own body.”
“I know … I just wish she would’ve appreciated all my effort instead of kicking me out.”
I grab her chin and make her look at me. “Did she ever hurt you?”
Her face contorts. “Often.”
It seems hard to admit.
But it’s the kind of detail I won’t ever forget.
“Did she ever love you?” I ask.
Tears well up in her eyes. “I don’t think so. I was born … only because she didn’t have the means to end it before.” She swallows. “That’s why I didn’t want this.” She touches her belly. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, her muscles tightening as a wave of pain hits her.
“Don’t. Don’t apologize.” I press another deep kiss to her forehead. “Stop beating yourself up. Rest now.”
She breathes a sigh of relief, and as the last tear rolls down her cheeks, a grin spreads on my cheeks.
Because I will not rest … until Emilia has gotten everything she’s owed.
***
Emilia
A few days later
I can never get used to being driven around in an expensive car by an actual chauffeur. It feels like I’m living in an alternate reality. One where this man chose me to be his, and I’m continuously swept away into the beautiful darkness surrounding him.
He loves me like he’s known me his entire life, and when I’m with him, it feels like this for me too. Deep inside my heart, I can feel him … keeping the beat going.
Every time I look at him, my heart flutters, and my body fills with heat at the promise of what he’s going to do later.
He already gave me a hint.
His belt … flicked into his hand.
I swallow at the thought of his tongue right there between the crevice of my thighs.
Good God, this man has swallowed me whole, and I’m enjoying every second of it.
He’s already done so much for me, and I don’t think I can ever repay him.
Not that he wants me to.
He’d probably throw anything I’d try to give him right back at me. That’s the kind of love I’ve found, and it makes me feel like I’m the luckiest girl alive.
The car comes to a stop in the middle of what I’d call the slums of this city, and it’s only when I look out the window that I realize where we are. My eyes widen at the sight of my own house.
“This is where you used to live, right?” Vincenzo asks.
I nod, but it barely registers.
I remember telling him about my previous home … I just never thought I’d actually visit this place again.