Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Slow down. Who got Matteo?”
“Nina. She says you have her father, and she won’t give Matteo back until you release him.”
I’m surprised he’s able to understand me through my choked sobs. My words are barely coherent to me, and I’m the one saying them.
He lets out a long string of curse words, both in Italian and English. “Where are you? I’m going to send a car out to get you right now.”
The mammoth-sized guard plucks my phone from my hand and brings it up to his ear. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll bring her to you.”
He hangs up the phone and doesn’t hand it back to me. Instead, he slides it into his back pocket. I freeze in my spot when the man smiles at me. It does nothing to make him appear more approachable. My muscles twitch like they want me to run, but I don’t think I can outrun this man. I don’t want to do anything that might compromise Matteo’s safety and trying to run might. His safety has always been my primary goal, my driving force behind every hard decision I have had to make. Watching him get dragged away from me was my worst fear come true.
“Your son is safe. She won’t do anything to him,” he tells me. His voice is as gruff as his appearance. He uses a hand to steer and direct me out of the store. That’s the kind way to describe it. In reality, he’s practically dragging me since every one of his steps is the equivalent of three of mine.
“You expect me to believe that? She just dragged my son away from me.”
“She isn’t that kind of woman.”
“Even if she doesn’t lay a single hand on his head, she’s damaging him enough by dragging him away from me.”
The man pauses as if contemplating that. “She’s desperate. She loves her father and has been losing her mind since he’s gone missing.”
I almost comment on not understanding how she loves a monster, but I guess I kind of do. No matter how I look at it, Enzo isn’t the good guy. That doesn’t stop me from needing him as fiercely as my next breath.
It’s the reason I recognize the tone in his voice. “It’s not a good look to be in love with a woman who will willingly throw herself at someone else’s fiance. Bet she doesn’t look at you twice.”
“She only threw herself at him because her father thought they would be a good match. She isn’t interested in him.”
There’s a lack of denial in his sentence. I laugh. Either this man is as terrible as she is, or it’s the opposite of love being blind. Her appearance is her only redeeming quality.
There’s a black sedan waiting outside the supermarket. Mammoth-man shoves me into the back seat and I wonder how nobody has contacted the police about what’s happening. It’s disturbing that a child can get kidnapped in public and no one will do anything about it.
Another guard is sitting in the front seat, ready to take us. They are too well prepared for this to be an opportunity of chance. They knew where we were, and they had guards waiting to ambush us.
Did Derek betray me? Or did they catch Derek?
Both possibilities leave rocks in my stomach. The man sitting next to me lets out a sigh. “I’m not in love with her.”
“You are. And I hope that your love for her burns you inside until it leaves you as nothing but a pile of ashes. I hope you have to watch her fuck whatever man her father thinks will be good for business to ensure her safety because you can’t be sure whether that man will leave her alive in the end. Your love for her is going to be your downfall, and I hope it’s a damn painful one.”
Chapter Forty-Four- Enzo
The black sedan pulls up to the front of the house to be greeted by several armed guards. My rage is on a thin leash when the door opens and Emma comes stumbling out like she’s been shoved. One of Oleg’s men comes out after her. I recognize him as the man who is normally entrusted with watching Nina.
I’d bet anything he’s the brains behind this operation.
Emma flings herself at me. I catch her without ever taking my eyes off the man. When this is all over, I’ll make sure his death is painful. Maybe I should end it now. I doubt Nina cares much for his life, not as much as she cares for her father’s.
He’s just a bodyguard, even if he wants to be more. I’ve seen the longing in his eyes, as has everyone else. Oleg would never allow for his daughter to marry someone so lowly no matter if she returned his affections.