Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Getting up from my chair, I walk away from the table as I mutter, “I need a cigarette.”
I only smoke when I’m stressed out, and right now, I’m rattled by Aurora’s presence.
I have to get my shit under control.
My friends join me out on the front steps, and Alek lights a cigarette. As he hands it to me, he says, “Why fight it? Fuck the woman out of your system, and when her four years are up, at least she won’t die a virgin.”
I regret telling my friends Aurora’s a virgin.
“It’s been two years,” Armani chuckles. “Her virginity is probably long gone.”
I fucking hate the words coming out of their mouths and, even more so, the fact that Armani might be right.
She doesn’t belong to you, so you can’t get enraged at the thought of another man taking her virginity.
Still, unreasonable anger fills my chest.
Alek has to light another cigarette because there’s no way I’m sharing this one. I need all the nicotine I can get my hands on.
Those wounded green eyes and the stunning smile fading on her lips.
Christ, she didn’t even try to hide her pain and shock, which confirms she wasn’t aware of my identity the night of the attack.
“What is it about the girl that gives you such a hard-on?” Alek asks.
Everything. Her mannerisms, her beauty, her innocent dark green eyes, her blinding smile…Jesus, the list is endless.
“I don’t know,” I lie without missing a beat.
It’s all I’ve done for the past two years. Lie to my friends and myself.
Aurora might be a D’Angelo, but for one night, she was my little deer, and that night refuses to free my heart from its unyielding grip.
Just as I take a drag from the cigarette, the angelic voice that’s haunted me says, “Misha, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Hearing my name spill over her lips makes my emotions spike into a dangerous, chaotic mess.
I exhale the smoke as I turn to face Aurora.
Even though fear and pain whirl in her eyes, her chin is held high. Abbie, her friend, stands by the foot of the grand staircase, watching us like a fucking eagle that’s ready to tear our hearts out with her talons if we try to hurt Aurora.
I nod at Alek and Armani, and they walk back into the foyer but stay close by to overhear the conversation.
Aurora moves closer and nervously glances over the grounds illuminated by hundreds of lights.
Highly annoyed with my heart for beating a mile a minute at the sight of her, I snap, “You have one minute.”
Her gaze darts to mine, and I watch as the harshness of my tone slams into her.
Christ, those emeralds have a way of striking at the deepest part of my heart.
Like a starved man, I drink in the sight of her, and for the slightest of moments, I wish we weren’t natural-born enemies.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?” she asks, her gaze drifting over my features as if she’s trying to imprint me into her memory.
“Every word,” I bite out.
She nods, then inhaling deeply, she frowns at me. “So that night meant nothing to you? It was all a lie?”
The lie spills over my lips, “Yes.”
This time her eyes narrow on me. “You’re still bad at lying.”
Taking a last pull of the cigarette, I flick it into a nearby garden. Exhaling the smoke, I step closer to Aurora until she’s forced to tilt her head back to keep eye contact with me.
Slowly, I lift my hand and wrap my fingers around her slender neck. For a second, I almost indulge in the feel of her soft skin, but then I squeeze until she gasps and her eyes fill with tears.
Knowing I’m hurting her has my heart constricting with a sense of betrayal, which stokes my temper because I should only be loyal to the bratva and mafia.
I lean down, and feeling her breaths rushing over my lips, creates a storm of desire in me, and I have to fight the craving and emotions with every bit of my strength.
I keep my tone low and threatening. “The only reason I’m not snapping your neck right now is because of the ground you’re standing on. Don’t mistake the fact that I’m allowing you to breathe for kindness.”
Even trembling with fear, her eyes search mine for the truth, and I bury everything she’s ever made me feel so fucking deep down she’ll never be able to find it.
Ripping my hand away from her breakable neck, I growl, “Stay out of my way, D’Angelo.”
Pushing past her, my shoulder knocks her off balance, and I hear as she falls to the polished floor.
Abbie rushes closer, and within a second, I come face-to-face with her enraged gaze.
She shoves at my shoulder, anger burning in her eyes. “Hurt her again, and I’ll make you pay, feccia!”