Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I go over to the kitchenette in the corner and make a cup of tea with three spoons of sugar, which I put in her hand. “Here. Drink this.”
She wraps her hands around the cup, soaking up the warmth. When I turn for the bathroom to run her a bath, she speaks.
“I need the morning-after pill. I’m not on birth control.”
The statement stops me in my tracks. When I took her virginity, she also mentioned protection. I told her I wanted nothing between us for our first time. Or any other time, for that matter. I could tell she liked that statement.
Fucking her bare was a risk, one I take full responsibility for. I was an adult. She was young and inexperienced. Young people of that age sometimes take stupid risks when lust overrules common sense and every fuck is a moment of forbidden pleasure… a few minutes of stolen ecstasy. And God knows, Tatiana was forbidden in every way.
What I took from her was meant for someone else. What I stole from another man could’ve meant my death sentence. I knew all of that when I pinned her beneath me and tore through her hymen with my cock. She had no idea what I was doing, no inkling just how dangerous the game we were playing was.
Afterward, when it was over and I was driving her home with soaked, bloodstained panties and an aching tenderness between her legs, she asked me what we’d do if she got pregnant. I kissed her and told her we’d handle it, and from the smile splitting her face, I could tell she liked that too.
Her words pull me back to the present. “I made it easy for you, didn’t I?”
I look at her.
“Back then.” She rocks herself. “You must’ve laughed at me behind my back.”
“You made nothing easy for me. You made me work so damn hard for it too. By the time you finally let me into your body, you had me on my knees.”
“I meant my family. You used me to find out when they’d be at their most vulnerable, the least protected.”
I curl my fingers into fists as the accusation settles between us. I’ve never lied to Tatiana. Not once. I didn’t tell her everything, but I didn’t tell her one single untruth. I’m not going to do that to her now.
“I see.” She nods. “Of everything you did between using me and making me believe you gave a damn, that was the cruelest, putting their deaths on me.”
I stalk back and stop in front of her. “Those deaths are on me. You had nothing to do with that, do you hear me?”
She wipes at a stray tear that runs over her cheek and carries on as if she hasn’t heard me. “If that’s how much you hate us, why is my brother still alive?”
At the mention of that son of a bitch, I clench my fists harder. “I don’t hate you.”
The wan smile that curves her lips says I have a strange way of showing it. “Well, you got what you wanted, so give me the papers to sign so that I can get the hell out of here.”
“My lawyer will have everything ready in New York.”
“I’m not going back there, so tell him to send it here.”
I don’t reply because she’s upset enough as it is.
Caution creeps into those big, jade-colored eyes. “We had a deal, Dante.”
“I never accepted it.”
She gets to her feet, clutching the cup in a white-knuckled grip. “You fucked me.”
“That’s on you, darling. I guess you gave that one away for free.”
Lifting the cup, she chucks the content at me. Scalding hot tea hits my chest.
She points at an open drawer where her T-shirts are packed. “Why did you bring all our stuff here, huh?” She drops the cup and charges me. “What game are you playing this time, Dante?” Slapping and scratching, she goes for my face. “This is my fucking life, mine and my child’s.”
I catch her wrists before she can do damage. “You’re wrought out and tired. You need a warm bath and to go to bed.”
“Don’t fucking patronize me.” She hisses. “Don’t you dare treat me like a child.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Then stop playing games and tell me why you moved our things in here.”
“Because your door is broken.” That’s all I give her for now. “You don’t want anything to be stolen.”
Just like that, the strength leaves her body. She sags in my hold. “The landlord—”
“I already instructed my men to fix the door tomorrow. I’ll pay for the damage. Now, come on. Let’s get you cleaned up. You’ll sleep better after a relaxing bath.”
She wrestles to free herself and fights me until I let her go.
I raise my hands, showing her I’m not going to force her.
She doesn’t move.