Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Well, maybe not therapy. Perhaps it was just a really good way of ignoring the fact that she had issues.
She didn’t know how long she lay there, but she didn’t think it was long until the door opened.
“Well, of all the scenarios I thought of this wasn’t one. I figured you might be angry or scared. Maybe that you’d yell or cry,” a low voice said.
She tensed while trying to remain still and quiet.
That voice was familiar. It tickled something in the back of her mind.
“Kicking the door was kind of dumb, wasn’t it? What were you hoping to achieve? Did you really think that you’d be able to kick it down? Dumb move. You’re in bare feet. And did you break your toe? Yeah, that was a really dumb thing to do.”
If he didn’t stop calling her dumb, she was going to kick his ass.
Yeah? You and whose army?
Suddenly, the blankets were ripped off, and she stared up into the face of the man standing there.
She wasn’t surprised. Around the second time he’d said the word “dumb” she’d realized who it was.
But was North acting alone? He was Jared’s assistant.
Which likely meant that Jared Bartolli was the one who had kidnapped her.
She’d always known that a Bartolli would end her life. She just wished she’d had the chance to live it first.
She hadn’t wanted anything spectacular. She didn’t need to be famous or powerful or rich.
She’d have been so happy with something truly ordinary.
To wake up next to someone she loved. To complain about them not hanging up their wet towel or forgetting to put the garbage out. To have her biggest worry be what they were going to have for dinner.
She dreamed of having a boring, ordinary life.
Unfortunately, there was always a Bartolli ready to ruin that dream.
“Right now I should be overcooking the potatoes and have my husband complaining that the lawn needs mowing again,” she grumbled around her fingers.
Shit.
Her fingers were still in her mouth! She hastily drew them out. Then she sat up and put her soft toys behind her to keep them safe from him. No way was she letting anything happen to them.
North watched her without giving anything away. She wasn’t even sure that he was blinking. Why was it so hard to read this man?
It was like he had his facial muscles completely ironed out. So they were flat. And pinned back so they didn’t move.
Maybe it was Botox or a face lift.
Okay, it was kind of amusing to think about him getting a facelift in order to control his face. Or because of vanity. That was even funnier.
“Why are you smiling?” He studied her closely. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, just the idea that you might iron your face each morning.”
And she probably shouldn’t have said that. This man had kidnapped her for goodness sake!
But even though she should have learned when to shut up and think first . . . well, it seemed that lesson was a hard one for her to learn.
“Iron my face? I don’t understand.”
She shrugged. “It’s not funny if you have to explain the joke.”
“I don’t care about finding it funny. I can’t remember the last time I did laugh. Explain it.”
“You can’t remember the last time you laughed?” she asked, appalled.
“That’s right.”
“Why don’t you laugh?” she asked.
All right, she knew this was a really weird conversation to have with your kidnapper, but she was genuinely curious. Why didn’t he laugh? It was odd.
He hadn’t been like this the first time she’d met him. Sure, he’d been a bit . . . off. But he’d seemed friendlier, more sane.
Mind you . . . she hadn’t expected that he would be the one to kidnap her. There were lots of other people she could see doing it.
But not North.
He didn’t seem to want anything to do with her.
“Perhaps I don’t find anything amusing?” he suggested.
Yikes.
“You realize you sound like a psychopath,” she told him.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Worse?
“Although a psychopath might have a sense of humor,” she added. “The things they find amusing might be appalling, but they still probably find them funny. Where as you . . .”
“Have no feelings? Find nothing amusing or cute or sweet?”
Right.
Gulp.
“Why is me ironing my face amusing?” he asked.
“If you don’t have a sense of humor then you might take offense. And I’m guessing I can’t really afford to offend you right now.”
“No? Why can’t you offend me?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious. You broke into my house, kidnapped me, and now you have me locked up in your dungeon. Offending you right now wouldn’t be a smart move.”
“And yet I’m not sure you’ve ever made a smart move in your life.” He sighed, shaking his head
“Hey! I think I’m offended by that!”
“You think you are?”
“Fine. I know I am. Why am I here, North? Why kidnap me? Why bring me here? Where am I?”