Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“We did not have an emotional affair.”
“I saw you stare at each other across the room. I saw you together on the patio. It doesn’t matter that you were three feet apart. Something happened between you two, and you continued it right in front of me. You took advantage of my trust and mistook it for stupidity.”
“I never thought you were stupid—”
“We’re done, Isabella.” We could go around and around, but no amount of arguing would change the facts.
“No . . .” The tears came so fast, it was as if they’d been there the entire time. “Con, no. I love you.”
“And I fucking love you, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It always matters.”
“I took a loan out on the ring so I could ask you to marry me—and while I was doing that, you two were sneaking off together or texting when I wasn’t around. God, I feel like the biggest idiot alive.”
This was obviously a surprise to her, because she gasped like I’d punched her in the stomach. “It wasn’t like that, I swear. Con, please don’t do this.” She brought her hands together like she was about to kneel and pray. “We’re meant to be together. I’ve known it since we were kids. Please, don’t ruin this.”
“I didn’t ruin it, Isabella. You did.”
“I didn’t cheat on you.”
“You lied directly and by omission. You lied and lied and lied and would have taken that fucking lie to the grave buried beside me. I’d roll over in my coffin if I’d known who I’d married. Who’d mothered my children. Someone who could keep a secret of this magnitude from me. Who the fuck does that?”
She sobbed her heart out. Released a flood of tears that should run her ducts dry. She moved into me and grabbed on to my arm like it was a life raft and she was lost out at sea. “No. You’re the love of my life. Please, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll never keep anything from you again.”
I pulled away from her grasp as gently as I could. I didn’t want to be touched by the person who’d ripped out my heart. Just because I didn’t shed a tear didn’t mean I wasn’t fucking devastated. “It’s done.”
“Give me another chance.” She latched on to me again.
I continued to step out of her hold. “You should go.”
“No!” Now she screamed, falling to her knees at my feet. “Please don’t do this to me, please don’t do this to me, don’t do this to us . . .” It was an ugly sob, her face so beet red it was like she’d run a marathon. A thick vein popped in her forehead I’d never seen before. She was always calm and collected, but she’d completely lost her mind.
I knew she wasn’t going to leave.
So I had to go.
I felt her try to grab me again as I walked past her, but I forced myself forward and onward, moving for the door, doing my best to drown out the sound of her cries and walk out.
Chapter 1
Constantine
I walked into the Temple, and my boots hit the sand. The heater below warmed the sand just like it was in ancient times, from the forges below and the sun beating down from the sky, making it even harder for the gladiators to handle the heat—especially barefoot.
“Drop him.” I turned to the men behind me—the ones who carried Timothée’s unconscious body.
They dropped him on his back in the sand.
“Thanks, boys.” I could have carried the kid myself, but as the emperor, I didn’t carry anyone. Well, except my woman when she needed a ride from the couch to the bed or a ride from the bed to my lap.
Timothée began to stir, probably because the heat had started to warm his clothes.
Rocco called from the stands, “Let’s have him fight a lion.”
“We don’t have lions,” I replied.
“Yeah, but that’d be fun.”
I chuckled quietly. “Not for the lion.”
“I think it’s something we should do. Make it like the real Colosseum. The guys would love to watch.”
“I’m not doing that to a lion.”
“Come on, the lion would win.”
“And in the meantime?” I asked. “He’s just sitting in a cage. Come on, fuck that.”
“Didn’t realize you were such an animal lover.”
“I’m just an asshole.” I turned back to Timothée.
He blinked a couple of times as he looked up at me, still not understanding the predicament he was in.
“Rise and shine, asshole.” I kicked him hard in the leg.
He gave a strained moan, his throat still not working properly after being knocked out cold. But the sudden sense of pain made him alert, and after he hugged his knee to his chest, he crawled backward across the sand to get away from me. The panic really set in when he looked around and realized where he was. “What the fuck?”