Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
She frowned. “You want to show me how good sex can be?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He chuckled. “We’re married, Aria, and unless you want me to keep taking you from behind for us to have a baby, we can try something new.”
“But, you want to divorce me.”
“Aria, that is not going to happen.”
“What happens if we find that evidence?”
“You’re not going to, Aria. I’m not even holding my breath for you to find it. Only your father knows where that is.”
Why was he saying this?
“Think about it,” Dante said.
And to her surprise, he took several steps back and left.
What had just happened?
****
Dante didn’t know what the fuck he’d done.
Propositioning his wife hadn’t been his plan.
From the moment he’d been forced to be engaged to her, he’d always intended to make her life miserable. He wanted her to hate being married to him, and he relished every second of it.
Only, he hadn’t enjoyed every day of making her miserable. Listening to Aria talk to her sister had struck a nerve within him. When she entered his office and asked him how to end their marriage, it was like she had awakened him. Aria wasn’t just some weak woman. There was something more about her, and he saw that now. She was following instructions from her father, but he had come to see there was a woman with her own thoughts and feelings as well.
There was more to Aria than he’d given her credit for.
Over the past eight months, he could have come home many times and spent time with her, but he had avoided it to make Aria miserable. He had no intention of making this marriage a success.
Making Aria miserable hadn’t achieved what he hoped.
Phillip Lewis was happy. He was thrilled to have the connection to the Gallo family. They had eaten right into the palm of his hand. He didn’t give a shit about his daughter’s life. All that talk of keeping the evidence as leverage to make sure Aria was okay, was his way of controlling them. Dante had a feeling he could have beaten Aria, and Phillip wouldn’t have cared.
Running a hand down his face, he glanced out into the garden, and paused as he caught sight of Aria. She was walking across the garden. She wore a red dress, one that grazed her calves. It wasn’t too hot today, and she’d wrapped herself up in a cardigan as well. Even from where he stood in his office, he saw she wasn’t wearing any shoes.
That morning, while she’d been in the bathroom, he explored her bedroom and found there was not a lot she owned. The clothes in her closet were sparse. Most of her drawers were empty.
There was nothing of any value around. There wasn’t even the odd photograph or token memento. She had nothing. After he left her, he went and sought out the soldier who accompanied her from her home to his.
Her parents wouldn’t allow her to take anything. She didn’t even have clothes.
Dante had gotten one of his men to do some digging. Aria’s bank accounts had also been withdrawn. She was only able to purchase a few items before the cash had been taken.
Phillip had taken everything back as if Aria wasn’t his own child. For a man who had worked hard to get her married to one of the most eligible men in the Pesci family, he appeared to have all but disowned her. At social gatherings, he’d noticed her family didn’t even approach her. It was like she meant nothing to them.
Leaving his office, he made his way outside, stepping into the garden and following the path she had taken. Dante knew he had more important things to be doing today than following Aria around. He could be back in the city, taking care of business for his father. Instead, he was home and following his wife.
The only task his father had given him was to get Aria pregnant. He didn’t want his son to remain a mockery of the Pesci family. He had a duty and Dante had never failed. The truth was, he hadn’t even tried to get Aria pregnant.
One fuck didn’t exactly account to trying. He knew the whole spiel about it only needing to be one time. One sperm, one egg, and the magic happens. So far, he and Aria hadn’t been lucky. For all he knew, when he left her, she went to the bathroom and washed him away. He wouldn’t blame her.
Aria was a contradiction of a weakling with a spine. It was strange.
“Am I doing something wrong?” Aria asked, stepping out of the shadow of a gazebo as he spun in a circle to find her.
He paid to have the gardens maintained, but he didn’t exactly pay close attention to the work being done.
“Why would you be doing something wrong?”