Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Yes.” I turn around and watch as he takes a sip, his eyes locked on my face like a heat-seeking missile. “You can live like this too.”
Another chuckle escapes me as I roll my eyes. “Phft…right.” Moving away from him, I say, “As long as I do anything you want, right?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm…” I look at Little Ricky, who’s paging through a leather-bound booklet, then ask, “What’s the catch?”
“I’ve already told you.” Adriano’s gaze follows me like a hawk watching its prey. “You belong to me.”
The way he says it makes it sound like a done deal, and I shake my head. “I haven’t signed anything…yet.”
My words seem to anger him, and narrowing his eyes, he tosses the rest of the alcohol down his throat before walking to the glass table and setting down the tumbler.
The next instant, Adriano stalks to me, and grabbing hold of my wrist, he tugs me in the direction of what I can only assume is the bedroom.
I dig my heels into the expensive carpet and yank back against his hold, but that only makes him jerk me so hard that I plow into his muscled body.
“What the hell?!” I shriek right before I go airborne and I’m hauled over his shoulder.
My eyes touch on Little Ricky, who’s watching us with an amused expression, and knowing he won’t help me, I begin to slam my fists against Adriano’s back, shouting at the top of my lungs, “You asshole! Put me down!”
Adriano stalks into the bedroom and kicks the door shut before hauling me down his front, and as I take a deep breath to scream my head off, I’m shoved up against the nearest wall.
Just as I begin to fear that he’s going to demand I have sex with him, he grips hold of my jaw, and the next second his mouth crashes into mine.
It feels like my eyebrows shoot right off my forehead as shock shudders through every cell in my body and any brain function I have comes to a sudden halt.
Adriano’s lips take ownership of mine, and I’m kissed thoroughly, making any other kiss I’ve ever had feel like nothing more than a peck.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice whispers for me to do something to stop this, but when his tongue strokes forcefully over mine, I struggle to remember my own name.
It feels like the particles in the air ignite and heat licks hungrily at my skin.
I’ve felt desire before, but as Adriano practically devours my mouth, something much more powerful rocks me to my core.
My abdomen clenches hard, and a kaleidoscope of butterflies erupt into flight, filling my stomach with intense flutters.
Just as I push my body against his, he rips his mouth away from mine and takes three steps backward.
I almost topple forward but catch myself in time, and while I desperately gasp for air, Adriano looks at me as if I’m some kind of extraterrestrial being.
His tone is filled with darkness and a promise that I will regret it if I do anything but obey his every command. “Eat. Shower. Sleep.”
After barking the orders at me, he rips the door open and stalks out of the bedroom.
What. In. The… Good God… Holy crap. Ahhhh.
Leaning back against the wall, I’m still breathless from the kiss he just laid on me. I try to gather myself, but the man just steamrolled the crap out of me, and I need a moment.
“Order food for Laurie,” I hear Adriano say, and as my breathing begins to return to normal, he also adds, “And get Marcus and Paulie to guard her.”
What?!
I push away from the wall and storm out of the bedroom, shouting, “You bastard!” Anger and the hopelessness that’s quickly becoming a constant companion pour through me, and not giving a shit anymore, I walk to the elevator while snapping, “You can’t hold me captive.”
I press the button, and when the doors slide open, I’m plucked off my feet for the third time today.
“Jesus!” I screech while twisting my upper body and slamming my elbow into his collarbone.
With everything I’ve been forced to endure, I lose my mind, and I begin to hit Adriano, but his strong arms easily clamp mine to my sides, and I’m only half aware when he sits down on one of the couches with me on his lap.
“Maybe tone things down a little,” Little Ricky says. “Don’t give me that look. You’re scaring the shit out of the woman.”
“Leave!” Adriano barks angrily, and seconds later, when I hear the elevator doors shut, my head whips in their direction.
Air bursts over my dry lips, and I can hear my heart pounding in my ears right before I dissolve into a fit of tears, because this week from hell is too much to handle.
“Shh…” Adriano presses my face into the space beneath his chin, and I feel his five o'clock shadow scratching against my forehead, his scent in every breath I take.