Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“I was told you were looking for me.” He says it like this is the most natural state imaginable.
“Are you really keeping me prisoner in here?”
“I gave you free rein of the full wing.”
“That’s not much better.” I stand and take a few steps toward him, but I stop myself.
I don’t know much about Connor. He was a fine boss, but there were always those rumors, and now I’m starting to realize they were all true. He really is as dangerous as everyone said.
Which means I’m in deep trouble.
“The staff will handle your needs. This isn’t going to be forever.”
“But for how long?”
“I don’t know. Until you’re safe.”
“That’s not acceptable.”
“It’ll have to be. Is that everything? I have work to do.”
“Damn it, Connor. You can’t do this to me. What about my mother?”
“She’s safe. I plan on bringing her in shortly.”
I throw my hands in the air. “You don’t know her. She might be alive but she can barely take care of herself. She needs me.”
“Your mother is a full grown woman. If she can’t survive two days without her daughter, she doesn’t deserve to keep breathing.”
“You asshole.” I grab a pillow and fling it at him. It hits his chest and bounces away. He doesn’t even flinch. “My friends are going to worry. You know Nadia from the office? We text every day. I bet she’s already sending out the SOS.”
“I can handle Nadia.”
Panic hits me and I wave my hands at him. “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. Please don’t handle her!”
His jawline tightens. “Do you think I’m going to murder your friend?”
“I don’t know what you’re going to do! This is a lot and you haven’t told me anything.”
He comes toward me slowly. His expression smolders, caught in a strange mixture of hate and desire. I back away but end up bumping into the arm of the couch. I’d topple backward, but Connor covers the last few feet between us and catches me by the small of the back, propping me up, my fingers digging into his arms.
“All you need to know is you are safe here, angel. If you need something, anything at all—“ The way he says anything at all sets my skin on fire with an odd, burning pulse. “I will provide it. You already have clothes.”
“Not my own.”
“You’re right. These are better.”
“Are you always like this?”
“Yes.” His grip on me tightens. “You are my wife. You are not my prisoner. But for your own protection, you have to stay in this wing of the house.”
“For how long?”
“Until it’s safe.”
“And since you define safe, that could be forever.”
“Not forever.” His eyes drift down to my belly.
Down to where our child is growing.
I feel a strange thrill.
“A phone,” I say urgently. “Please, give me a phone at least, so I can call my mom and text Nadia. They’ll be worried.”
“I can’t.”
“I won’t try to call for help, I swear it.”
“That would be useless even if you did.”
“Great, all the more reason.”
He lets out a frustrated breath. “Will you be happy if I give you a phone?”
“Yes. I will.” For now, anyway.
He releases me. I yelp as I lose my grip on him and tumble onto the couch, feet up in the air. I kick them, calling him a jerk, but he’s already gone by the time I right myself.
I pace around and it takes a lot of self-control not to rip the room to shreds.
This is my life now, isn’t it? Connor Maguire will appear, make demands, promise that this is all for my own good, and meanwhile he’ll keep me like some pet trapped in a kennel? It’s a beautiful cage with room service, but it’s still a cage.
But maybe, maybe he’s not lying. I touch my stomach, nerves jangling. I saw those people, I heard what Sinead said. Connor’s involved with some very dark shit, and now I’ve been dragged into the middle of it. Lisa even confirmed it too: the Gallaghers are powerful, and now they hate my stinking guts, not that I can blame them.
The door opens. I flinch, surprised to find Connor holding out a simple silver flip phone.
I don’t move to take it. He stares hard, not happy, but not threatening.
“What’s the catch?” I ask, heart pounding up into my throat.
“If you make trouble, I can’t promise your mother will make it here safely.”
Rage flares in my heart. “You’re threatening an old woman?”
“I’m threatening you, angel. Take the phone.”
I stride forward and angrily snatch it from his palm. He catches my wrist before I can spin away and pulls me into his body. I snarl at him, fingernails clawing against his chest, but his face gives me nothing, no sign of pain at all.
“Let me go.”
“I can’t do that. Not while you’re my wife. Not while you’re carrying my child. You might hate me now, but I will do anything to keep that baby safe. One day soon, you’ll understand.”