Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 18755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
“I remember.” They had safe words and code words for everything. It was just one of the many “precautions” that had become a part of her life, and while others might think of it as bothersome, for Kendra it was the opposite.
Because these precautions meant she was cherished.
Bonnie stood behind Kendra’s seat throughout the day and another precaution was for them to take toilet breaks at the same time. Thankfully, the other women making up the board were used to the presence of personal security since they, too, had their own bodyguards.
“Don’t you live outside the city?” Shayla Kontides asked in a whisper while their board went on a ten-minute recess. “It’s fine if you’d like to leave early. It’s already getting late.”
“I’m good,” Kendra assured her friend. “Dario says we’ll be staying at the penthouse tonight.”
Shayla relaxed. “That’s good to know.”
It was close to midnight when the meeting finally ended, and Shayla tried her best not to laugh at how the younger woman could no longer keep herself from yawning.
“Go home,” she urged Kendra with a smile. “You look like you’re about to drop dead at any moment.”
Kendra usually chatted with Bonnie while in the car, but as soon as she was in the backseat, she only had to close her eyes, and she was fast asleep in a second. She had mistakenly thought that the wives of billionaires spent their time leisurely, but that wasn’t true at all. Every woman was different, and she was so grateful that because of Dario’s partnership with Adriano Kontides, Kendra had ended up being friends with someone like Shayla, who not only practiced law but also headed her own foundation.
When they got to the penthouse, Kendra put her foot down for the first time when Bonnie was about to join her in the elevator.
“Go home, Bonnie,” she said with a smile. “It’s been a long day for us both.”
The penthouse was dark when she arrived, and while that in itself was unusual...
There was something else that made the hairs at the back of her neck rise.
Something else that made her feel like she had something stuck in her throat.
No. No. No.
Why did all of this feel so terribly and painfully familiar?
She couldn’t even make herself blink. She didn’t want to risk closing her eyes because the moment she did, she was scared she would end up remembering that night.
No.
Please, God.
Please don’t let it be happening again.
Chapter Five
A HAND COVERED HER mouth, and her fears swung from one end to another in lightning speed. One moment she was preparing herself to catch Dario cheating on her. The next moment she was preparing herself to do some kung fu, tai chi, or whatever because she had just been caught by someone who was presumably bad—
“Don’t make a sound.”
Kendra would have crashed to the ground if not for Dario wrapping around her waist as he slowly guided her to walk backwards in the dark.
Oh, thank God.
He hadn’t been cheating on her.
Rather, Dario just had his hand over her mouth because...
Why did he not want them to make a sound again?
She couldn’t remember if he said anything else after that.
All she knew was that he wasn’t cheating on her, and oh thank You!
Thank You so, so much.
Thank You!
It was only Kendra’s third time to pray her entire life, but this time...
This time, she truly believed because now that reality was starting to sink in, Kendra was also starting to appreciate how things could have ended differently. Violently. Even...murderously.
She could have well lost her life five seconds ago if it had been someone else. Someone bad. Or someone who had a grudge against the La Roccas. But instead...
She was safe and alive, and that...that was proof enough for Kendra. From now on, she was going to believe in Him with her whole heart. It was all because of Him that it was her husband and not someone else who was guiding her in the dark, and oh?
The bookcase wasn’t a bookcase, but instead it was a secret door? That led to a secret room that was...whoa!
Lights blazed into life as soon as the bookcase-slash-door swung shut silently behind them, and she could only look around in a daze, unable to believe that this was real life.
There were screens all over one wall, mounted together almost like puzzle pieces of a board, and even though Dario didn’t look bothered at all as he started tapping on the keyboard—
This reminded her so much of The Purge—
No, wait, don’t think that!
It didn’t end well for Ethan Hawke in that movie, and what if she was the Ethan Hawke in this world?
No, she had to think of something better, something that had more survivors like...like...oh, oh, right, Panic Room!
And wait, there was another good movie, but with zombies—
"I love it when you look like you're having the most interesting conversation with yourself, cara."