Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 18308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
The memories made her feel trapped. She suddenly couldn’t stop herself from reliving how helpless she felt as he made her drink whatever it was that killed her—
No no no no no no no.
In front of her, Eric was still aiming to win Best Actor as he tearfully recounted how they first met, fell in love, and—
Creeeeeeaaaaaak.
The sound of the huge double doors opening at the back had Eric stop talking while everyone else turned around to see who the latecomer was, and OH!
Her husband liked to say at dinner parties he hosted that Payton’s boss was a loser.
She’s been working for him for four years, but I’ve never met him.
I’ve asked her to invite him over Thanksgiving or Fourth of July, but he’s never come over.
I’m telling you, man. I think he’s seen me around. And I probably intimidated him or something.
She would always try to stop him from talking about her boss like that, but Eric would either ignore her or tell her he was just being honest. When she would try to plead with him beforehand not to make any jokes about her boss, he would get irritated—
Why are you so protective of him? Are you having an affair with him? Is that it?
But the truth was, her boss had never turned a single invitation down...since Payton had never let Niccolò know he had been invited in the first place.
It had just felt safer to her that way. Because the truth was—
Is that Niccolò de Vindice?
He’s so much hotter in person!
I can’t believe it’s really him!
The reactions from Eric’s side of the audience said it all. Everyone was staring at her boss like an avenging angel in an Italian suit had just strode in, and this...
This was why Payton had never let her husband meet Niccolò de Vindice.
It was her way of protecting Eric all these years, knowing that her husband’s ego wouldn’t be able to handle the fact that her boss was quite possibly one of the most gorgeous men on the planet. Payton had even kept his name a secret, and since Eric had never cared to ask, her husband had remained in blissful ignorance all these years. Even with Niccolò’s photos everywhere on the Internet—
“Excuse me, sir? This is a private service!”
Eric had no idea that the billionaire who was walking straight toward him was the man he had been ridiculing for years.
“I don’t care who you are!”
The whole thing was like a train wreck waiting to happen, with Eric charging forward with his chest all puffed up. But when he realized how much taller, broader, and just plain scarier Niccolò was than him—
She could practically see him mentally switching gears to avoid embarrassment, with Eric shooting daggers at his friends until they finally understood they were being asked to help save his pride.
And so just as Niccolò was about to walk past him, his friends held Eric back—
“Let me go! I need to teach this guy a lesson!”
Eric made a really good show at wanting to challenge Niccolò, but Payton was no longer paying him attention. This time, her gaze was completely drawn to her boss, with how he had slowed to a stop just a few feet away from her casket...
Payton’s eyes started tearing up at the look on his face.
W-Why did he look so haunted?
Behind them, Eric was still making a ruckus, but it was as if her boss heard nothing at all.
“I said let me go! It’s not right for that man—”
“Mr. Eric Cheyney?”
The voice sounded very...official. The kind that had all heads swing back, Payton’s included, and that was when she saw several men walking in, all of them in dark suits, and the one in front was showing his badge.
FBI?
Everyone started talking at once while her husband’s face started losing color.
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Payton Cheyney.”
And of course, what happened after that...
Pandemonium.
There was so much going on that Payton didn’t even know where, who, what to look at first. But when she saw her boss in the corner of her eye moving forward, it was as if everything melted, and this time, all she could see was him.
Niccolò de Vindice.
A man like him, and someone like her...
Their paths should never have crossed, but life was strange that way at times, and she somehow ended up working for him.
Behind them, chaos still reigned, with her husband trying but failing to make a run for it, and the Feds now had a violently struggling Eric pinned to the ground. As one of them read him his Miranda rights, Eric let out an outraged howl.
“This isn’t right! I’m innocent! My wife killed herself!”
And yet throughout this, Payton was unable to take her gaze off the man standing by her casket, his features seemingly carved in marble. She saw his fists clench against his sides, and finally...