Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
I know he’s watching.
Assuming he’s even here tonight.
And if he’s not, what will I do? Would it even matter if I sat right here alone all evening, drinking a few glasses of wine, and went home without talking to him?
I don’t even know what I want to say.
Except his conversation with my grandmother is bothering me. Something's wrong, and it's not like I'll ever hear about it from her. All my life, the family business has been none of your business, young lady. Even though Pierre runs the Willing-Morris hedge fund and I'm technically going to inherit a very large chunk of our family fortune, or whatever's left of it, it's like nobody wants me involved in anything at all.
I'm a bargaining chip. Nothing more than that.
Even if I've always desperately wanted to be more.
I kill an hour sitting around. I down two glasses of wine and start on a third. I'm feeling comfortably tipsy, though not drunk yet. I'll get there soon unless something happens. I know I should stop, but the longer I sit here alone and think about how useless I've been my whole life, the more miserable I feel and the more I want to drown all the chatter in my head with alcohol.
It wasn't always like this. Grandmother's been hard on me since forever, but I was good in school. I got straight As and graduated from a prestigious and difficult prep school in the top five of my class. I could've gone anywhere to college if Grandmother had let me apply. I had friends back then, extracurricular activities, reasons to get out of bed in the morning.
Now I'm adrift. I'm flitting from nothing to nothing. And all I have to look forward to is marrying a man I don't even know.
"I keep waiting for you to come up to my office, but it looks like I have to make the first move tonight."
I flinch in surprise and look to my left. My jaw drops open as Adriano leans against the bar watching me. His face is draped in a dark scowl, and I marvel all over again at how large and terrifying he is. Tattoos disappear into the sleeves of his perfect designer suit, and there's not a single hair out of place on his head. He licks his full lips as he tilts his chin toward me, inching closer like he's thinking about putting his hands on me.
Please, god, do it.
"I wasn't sure you were here," I say, feeling my cheeks turn red. "And last time, I had on a mask."
"Last time, there were about a hundred people fucking down here." His voice is liquid gold, and I keep catching glimpses of his pink tongue.
I remember what that tongue can do to me.
"I was just thinking that this place looks a lot nicer when there's an orgy going on."
"Oh, there's an orgy. It's just the fucking takes place outside of my walls."
"That's a fun way of looking at a nightclub."
"It's the only way." He gestures at the bartender. The young man pours a glass of top-shelf whiskey and brings it over. "This place is filled with lonely people. This place isn't an end; it's a means to something else."
"And what's that?"
"Connection." He sips his drink, studying me. "Is that why you pretended to be lost when we first met?"
I suck in a breath and look away. "You weren't supposed to know that was me."
"I figured it out pretty fast. You're easy to remember." His eyes drift down my body. I'm wearing a cute little dress, not too revealing, but not conservative either.
"I guess you looked me up."
"I'll admit to a little curiosity. Why'd you come back tonight, Lucy?"
I hesitate, trying to come up with a reason. Because I wanted to see him again? Because I wanted a repeat of our first encounter?
Because I'm terrified of what's going to happen after we get married.
"You were arguing with my grandmother. I want to know what you two were talking about."
He glances back toward the stairs. "Ask her about that."
"Grandmother doesn't tell me anything. I wouldn't have come here if it were that easy to find out."
"Then maybe you don't need to know." He pushes off from the bar and starts to walk away.
"Hey, where are you going?" I get up and hurry after him. Adriano parts through the crowd like a boat through water. "You're seriously just going to walk away?"
"You're better off not knowing." He stops when he reaches the staircase and turns back to me. This time, he's inches away and towering over me like a monster. He grabs my arm, fingers firm but not painful, and I stare with my mouth open. "Trust me, Lucy. Go back home. You're not going to find anything but trouble here."
"What about after we're married? Are you going to keep on being trouble?"