Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
She pushed the plate away after picking at it for several minutes, her stomach in knots, but strangely not because she was currently in this situation. It was weird to be chained up in some stranger’s house, not sure of the outcome, but not be afraid of what might happen to her.
Fury was huge and definitely scary, but he wanted payback for her father, and she guessed if she’d been in his shoes, she would have done the same. If she had anyone she cared about, she would go to great lengths to make things right.
But this is so fucked up.
Angelina picked up the chain that hung off the bed and ran her fingers over the cold metal. It started to warm in her grasp the longer she held it. She wanted to cry at the situation she was in, but what she found fucked up was her tears were because of the fact it was her family that had her in this predicament.
She stood and walked toward the door. The sun had already set, and from what Fury said she was out for several hours. But the day had slowly worn on, and now with evening already upon them, all she should want to do was curl up and cry. That or figure out how to escape.
And where would you go? If Fury found you so easy, then he’s right, your family probably knew where you were the whole time.
But if they had known where she was, why didn’t they come after her? Angelina knew her father wouldn’t have just let it go that she left without a word to them.
She reached for the handle, but before she could open it, it swung inward. Retreating several steps and almost tripping over the chain, she tilted her head back and stared up at Fury. He held two bottles of beer in his hand, but one was already being tipped back into his mouth as he took a hefty drink from it.
He handed her the other beer, and she took it, knowing she could smash the damn thing over his head, but also grateful for the small reprieve the alcohol would give her.
She drank half the bottle before she brought the tip away from her mouth. She didn’t even like beer all that much, but seeing as she never drank, Angelina figured the alcohol would help. She hoped, at least.
“You hate your family that much, huh?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Yeah, that much.” She moved back toward the bed, the chain making a loud clanking noise on the ground. When she was seated on the mattress, she held the bottle between her hands, looking at it. “My childhood wasn’t horrible. I had cousins to play with, but my mother and father weren’t really there for me.” She lifted her head and looked at Fury. He leaned against the doorframe, his expression unreadable. “My brother was an asshole for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I saw the kind of men that surrounded me.”
She lifted her bottle and took another drink, not sure why in the hell she was even saying anything to him. He didn’t care, especially not about her childhood. All Fury wanted was his revenge, and she was a means to that end. But she kept her mouth shut after saying all of that, because the less he knew about her, the better.
Angelina didn’t need any extra drama in her life … well, not any more than she already had.
“And you waited so long to leave?” he asked, and she lifted her head, a little stunned he cared enough to wonder.
She shrugged and stared into his dark eyes.
“You’re only what, twenty-five at the most?”
She nodded. “But leaving the Cardonas isn’t the easiest thing.” He didn’t say anything in response. “My father never spent a lot of time with me. He was with my brother the majority of the time, showing him how things ran.
But I always had someone watching over me.” Scrubbing a hand over her eyes, she hated thinking about the past.
“My father cares about me in terms of protecting an asset.” Angelina looked at Fury again. He stood there finishing off his beer, appearing like he didn’t give a shit about this. Which he probably didn’t, but it felt … nice, in a fucked-up way, to talk about this stuff.
“So, you found a way out and took it?”
She nodded after he spoke. “Yeah. There were other times I probably could have run, but a lot of things held me back.”
“Like what?” He almost sounded like he was challenging her.
“Like making sure I had money, could get away without them dragging me back.” She swallowed. “Fear held me back, not knowing what was ahead of me. A lot of things kept me there. But I finally realized I had to just do it or I’d die in that prison.”