Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Just like my fate and my death.
6
Adrian
Lia tries to remain awake.
She fights tooth and nail for it by shaking her head, pinching herself, and eventually tapping her cheeks.
But it’s useless.
She falls asleep against the car door because, in her attempt to remain awake, she was also religious about keeping her distance from me.
I watched her entire struggle from my position with my forefinger tapping against my thigh. I didn’t have to do anything except wait for the inevitable.
People, in general, think they can change things with the sheer force of their determination. That the danger signals would push their brain and it’s enough to propel their system forward. What they fail to understand is that the brain can contradict itself and send different signals. After all, the body’s exhaustion can and will overrule the brain’s plots.
I grab Lia by the elbow and pull her close. She doesn’t even stir as her head lolls down on her chest in what has to be an uncomfortable position. I maneuver her so that her head is resting against my thigh.
The scent of roses fills my nostrils. She doesn’t only smell like them, she feels like them, too. Beautiful, small, and able to be plucked away by any passer-by. They bloom fast and die just as fast.
Unlucky for her, this passer-by is none other than her worst nightmare.
A small sigh leaves her lips and I want to reach out to my guards, Kolya and Yan, and erase that sound from their heads. I don’t like that they can hear or see her like this.
Though I shouldn’t particularly care, something has changed. I don’t know whether it started when I saw her that night or after her performance today, or if the deal was sealed when she moaned in my mouth as I devoured her lips.
They’re red now, a bit bruised, a bit broken, just like her.
Lia Morelli is a lot more than what her file contains. The pictures in it show a petite woman with angelic features, but none of them display the haunting look in her blue eyes or the loneliness eating at her soul.
There’s a certain fractured quality about her, a wound she’s hiding away from watchful eyes. But she’s been blinded to the reality that untreated wounds decay and rot.
Taking advantage of people’s wounds is my specialty. Smashing them in is what I do best.
My parents’ son through and through.
However, I shouldn’t want to get involved with Lia. Could it be because we share a trait? Or because she’s hiding her broken nature with a fragile façade?
When I watched her dance, shining under the spotlight, I didn’t see her ethereal beauty or angelic face. I didn’t see her elegance or her perfect technique.
I saw darkness attempting to fester in light. I saw a person trying their hardest to escape who they truly are.
And that’s what led to a chain of consecutive events.
“Are you sure you want to go to her place, sir?” Kolya meets my gaze from the driver’s seat, speaking in Russian.
“Wouldn’t it be better to take her with us?” Yan agrees.
“And do what? Torture her?” I speak in the same language.
I stroke a stray strand out of her face and keep my fingers in her soft hair that’s the color of dark honey. She shivers as if feeling the impact of my words.
Yes, it would be easier to torture her, but that won’t get me the answers I need and it’s for a simple reason.
“She knows nothing,” I say to my guards.
Kolya lifts a shoulder. “She could be faking it.”
“She doesn’t have what it takes to fool me, so no.” I inhale her rose scent and recall how she tasted, a bit like fear but a lot like surrender.
Will she submit to me or will I have to…resort to other methods?
I glide my finger over her bruised lips and they part, allowing my thumb to nestle between them. Dark desire coils around my gut with a desperate need to have these same lips wrapped around my dick as I ram it inside her tight little mouth.
“Then what are you planning to do with her?” Kolya asks the million-dollar question.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On her worth.”
Truth is, I should’ve used her by now, whether she knows or not doesn’t matter. However, a rebellious part of me wants to see where she’ll go.
How far she’ll go.
I have a feeling I’ll come to regret my decision either way, so I might as well indulge my curiosity first.
The car comes to a halt in the parking garage of Lia’s building.
Yan opens the door and I step out with Lia in my arms. She’s light, tiny, and too soft. Her head drops against my chest, arm falling lifelessly to the side.
“Get some rest,” I tell my men and stride to the elevator. I tap in the code for her floor and after we reach her apartment, I enter a few other digits until a beeping sound fills the hall.