Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
When she regains control over her emotions, she mutters, “Sorry, I’m ruining the evening.”
“You didn’t ruin anything.” Pulling her out of the restroom, I lead her back to one of the couches. “Want me to make you some tea?”
“Please.”
Sitting down, she takes off the pieces of jewelry and places them carefully back in their boxes.
I hurry to the kitchen and make her a cup of camomile tea. While I’m busy, I think about her strong reaction to the gifts.
“Jesus!” I hear Eden shout.
Leaving the tea, I rush back to the living room, only to find her staring at her phone.
Standing in the doorway, I say, “What?”
Her eyes are wide, and she seems a little pale.
Hurrying closer, I take hold of her hand and turn the phone so I can see what she’s looking at.
Oh…Fuck.
Her bank balance.
“We had a deal. You agreed to it,” I remind her.
Then it registers that she only had twelve dollars before I transferred money into her bank account.
She grabs the phone and looks at her balance again before giving me a bewildered look.
“It’s just money,” I murmur.
Finally, she finds her voice. “It’s…Jesus.” She shows me the screen again. “Look closely. Did you make a mistake and type in too many zeroes? I can go to the bank tomorrow and send it back to you.”
My eyebrow lifts, and grabbing her wrist, I tug her against my chest.
“Don’t you fucking dare return any of it. That will piss me off.”
She gapes at me as if I’ve lost my mind, then mutters, “It’s way too much. It’s…It’s…”
“It’s yours. We had this conversation already. You needed security.”
“But…” Her eyebrows draw together. “It’s a million dollars, Dario. A. Million. Dollars.” Her eyes widen again. “Oh my God. One Million Dollars.” Lifting a hand to her forehead, she begins to look a little queasy.
Picking my woman up bridal style, I take a seat on the couch and position her on my lap. I frame her face with my hands, and press a kiss to her parted lips.
“It’s so much,” she whispers.
“And not nearly enough.” I give her a pleading look. “Let me give you the world, Tesoro.”
“But…” she shakes her head. “Don’t you need the money? I know you’re rich, but I thought you had…like a couple of million, and if you give me so much, what does that leave you with? And how do I…? What do I…?”
I force her to look at me. “Breathe, Tesoro.”
She inhales a deep breath, her gray eyes stormy with conflicting emotions.
“I have a hell of a lot more than a couple of million,” I say so she won’t worry about me. “To me, a million is like…” Remembering her balance before I sent her money, it’s actually hard to think of an amount to compare it to, and I end up muttering, “It’s nothing to me. I won’t miss it at all, so please take it.”
She stares at me for a long while before looking at her bank balance again.
I wait patiently until she murmurs, “What do I do with so much money?”
“Whatever you want.” Pulling the phone out of her hold, I set it down on the table beside the couch before focusing all my attention on Eden again. “You can invest some.”
“Yes. I have to get it out of my account before someone steals it.”
“No one will steal it.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Besides, if someone is dumb enough to steal from you, I’ll track the fucker down and get it back before killing him.”
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips while her eyes search mine, then she asks, “Have you killed a lot?”
Lifting my hand, I brush a couple of strands behind her ear. “Do you really want to know?”
“The mafia is this whole other side of you that I don’t know.”
“As I’ve said before, I mostly take care of the hacking and tracking part of things. I’m also backup for the family, so if we have a meeting with another group, I’ll be on a roof with my sniper rifle to take out any threats.”
“Have you ever killed a regular person? You know, someone who isn’t a criminal.”
I shake my head.
She seems to relax a little, and it has me asking, “Feeling better?”
“Yeah.” Leaning her head against my shoulder, she lets out a heavy breath. “It’s just a lot to take in all at once.”
“I know. I’m trying to take it slow, but after I almost lost you, it’s difficult. I just want to love you in every way possible.”
She turns on my lap until she’s straddling me and meets my eyes. “I’m not going to lie, you’re a hell of a lot more intense since the shit went down, but I get why.” Leaning closer she presses a soft kiss to my mouth before giving me a beautiful smile. “Thank you, Dario.”
“You’re welcome, Tesoro.”