Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
A log in the fire popped, making me jump.
After a long pause, Pierce circled his hand on my back again…caressing it. “You’re tired. It’s been a very long day.”
My shoulders dropped. He was just the same. An arrogant, entitled asshole.
One brother used me as a prop in a staged accident.
The other used me as a piece on his chessboard.
One would have killed me for ruining his plans.
The other…
I turned to meet Pierce's searching gaze. Images slammed through me—his hands forcing me beneath the water, his body driving into mine.
The other had tried to kill me while his cock was deep inside of me.
CHAPTER 43
PIERCE
Those beautiful eyes which had so entranced me from the beginning narrowed. “I want answers, Pierce. I deserve them.”
Some inner demon taunted me to answer her truthfully. She may have deserved answers, but that didn’t mean she was ready for them. “It wasn’t about protecting you, not at first. It was about protecting my family’s fortune.”
Madison scurried off my lap, fisting the oversized towel between her breasts as she stood before me. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she huffed. “At least you’re honest about it.”
She turned on her heel and headed toward the bedroom door.
I stood and closed the distance between us in three strides, stretching my arm across her and slamming the polished wood door closed. “You don’t seriously think I’m just going to let you waltz out of here, do you, kitten?”
Her body trembled as I pressed my chest against her back.
She turned to face me, lifting her chin. “Let me go.”
“No.” I moved in closer, pinning her against the door.
She was so small, so frail, but full of fight. She was stronger than she knew, and more resilient than I had anticipated. Too bad she’d never escape this.
“You won’t get away with this,” Madison said. “You used me.”
“I didn’t have any other options,” I said.
Madison’s lips thinned. “You used me as a pawn. Even though you knew he wasn’t dead, you framed me for his murder!”
“It was the only way,” I replied. “My brother was planning something big and if I wanted to stop him, I needed to fuck with his plan to draw him out. I needed leverage. I would’ve made you whole…eventually.”
“And that leverage was me?” Madison said sharply. “You ruined my life over fucking money! For revenge against your brother!”
A dark smirk spread across my face. “It was a lot of fucking money, and he really has it coming.”
Madison was not amused. “Fuck you.”
“There was no other way to find out what he was up to,” I explained calmly. “I had to smoke him out.”
“And I was just a poor little nobody you could use. My life means nothing to you, does it? I was just another townie bitch.”
I deserved every word, but that didn’t mean I was going to take it.
Every few seconds, a lightning flash illuminated her upturned face, highlighting the glimmer of tears on her cheeks.
She trained her gaze past me, just over my shoulder. Her voice was even. “Open the door and let me pass.”
How did anger make her even more alluring? “No.”
“You can’t keep me prisoner in this room!”
“You underestimate me.”
“I mean it, Pierce. Let me go. I have a life to get back to. You cannot hold me hostage like some princess trapped in a tower.”
I leaned close, relishing the scent of my soap on her skin. “Watch me.”
Her eyes betrayed her plan. They darted to the right, in the direction of the en suite door which led back into the bathroom, seconds before she turned and tried to make a dash for it.
I snatched her around the waist from behind, using her momentum to lift her from the floor and swing her around.
“Let me go!” Her scream was drowned out by another boom of thunder.
“Apparently, I need to use other means to persuade you to listen to reason.”
She kicked out as she clawed at my arm. “I don’t care what you have to say! You’re a liar and a monster!”
My grip tightened around her tiny frame as I tore the towel from her body then carried her to the bed and tossed her on it. I snatched up a discarded silk tie from the nearby nightstand.
Smoothing it, I raised an eyebrow and let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Madison. I thought you had softened toward me.”
She tried to scramble to the other end of the bed, her wide, fearful eyes on the tie.
Her mouth opened but whatever she intended to say died on her lips.
With a powerful arm, I hauled her arms over her head and secured her wrists to the headboard.
“Pierce, no! Please, stop! Don’t do this!”
“You are leaving me no choice. You won’t listen to reason, Madison. I wanted to be nice to you. I could’ve even been sweet, but you refused to obey.”