Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
But if I want the job, it comes with stipulations. And one of those stipulations is to never mix business with pleasure. AKA, don't sleep with anyone on the job. My father leads by example, and not once have I ever seen him get involved with anyone, not even his beautiful assistant. That was an easy rule to follow...until Axel.
Axel is an expert distributor, someone who knows how to get our product past the ruthless regulations mandated by the government. My father has never had a partner, but he makes an exception for Axel because he's good at what he does.
But the second our eyes meet...there's fire. He's by far the most handsome man I've ever seen, and his I couldn't care less attitude makes me weak. But I put up boundaries and reject his advances.
But this man doesn't stop until he gets what he wants.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
SCARLETT
After a long, dark winter, spring arrived. When I opened my windows that morning and saw the cloudless blue sky, I knew the warmer season I craved had arrived. Instead of wearing a sweater and jeans, I opted for a springtime dress. It was a little premature for that, but I didn’t care.
I left my apartment and drove down the quiet streets to my father’s home, a large estate that took up an entire corner of the block. It was one of the few properties that had spacious outdoor terraces, shielded by high gates with fine greenery. I pulled up to the gate, and the guards let me pass without a single glance.
It was the place where I’d grown up, the historic Duomo in sight, the markets just blocks away, the streets heavy with the past that was still a part of our present. I walked by the large fountain in the center of the courtyard, the shadows long across the ground because the sun was already setting when it had only risen to its full height hours ago.
I entered the house, finding my father sitting in the parlor, comfortable couches across rugs, an enormous hearth against one wall that was already lit. He sat at one of the small tables, wearing a navy-blue suit with a shiny watch on his wrist. He was on his phone, his thumbs typing against the screen like he was writing an email. On the surface, it was a relaxing scene, but his men lingered in opposite corners of the room, blending into the gray-wallpapered walls and the artwork that hung there, always hovering over the man they served.
He must have heard the sound of my heels on the hardwood because he immediately slipped his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket and stood up to greet me, a nice smile on his face, a dimple in each cheek. Whenever he saw me, he had this brilliance in his eyes, this unspoken affection that he reserved for only me. “Sweetheart.” He circled his arms around me and hugged me hard before pressing a kiss on my forehead. “You look lovely.” He pulled out the chair for me like he always did.
I sat at the table on his right and hung my purse over the back of the chair. “Thank you. I like your suit.”
He looked down at himself as he brushed away a nonexistent piece of dust. “I can’t take credit for any of this. If Hannah didn’t dress me, I’d probably be in sweatpants.” He grinned as he smoothed out his jacket.
Hannah was his assistant, but I wondered if she was more than that. He kept his personal life a secret from me. I’d never met one of his lovers, and he never acknowledged if he ever had a girlfriend. I was a grown woman, but he still hid that part of his life from me. My father was fit and very good-looking, having become a father when he was very young, so he was still young now that I was an adult. My friends always told me how hot they thought he was…which disgusted me.
“Ramon.” My father didn’t turn his head to address him. “A bottle of red for the table. Barsetti Vineyards.” He looked at me again. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?”
“Maybe for something small…”
He gave more orders. “A charcuterie board.”
His men immediately got to work and, a moment later, brought everything he requested and disappeared as quickly as possible once the job was done.
My father poured the wine for us and took a drink.
I did the same.
“So, how’d it go?”
I reached into my purse and withdrew the ring. It was a glorious white diamond, one of the rarest in the world, flawless and whole. Historic and old, it was a one-of-a-kind piece, and I wasn’t sure the owner even realized it was missing yet.
My father smiled, pride in his eyes, and then took the ring to examine it himself. “Good work, sweetheart.”
I took another drink of the wine.
He dropped the ring into the pocket that held his phone. “I’m expecting company for dinner.”
“Yeah?”
“The new prime minister isn’t exactly agreeable to our line of work, so he’s implemented all these nonsense regulations at every border. It’s becoming harder to get our product where it needs to go.”
“Are you going to kill him?”
He took a drink as he considered the suggestion. “He has two young kids… I’d rather avoid that.”
I’d rarely seen the violent side of my father because he purposely hid it from me, but I knew he ran his operation with an iron fist. He must because all his men ran around him like terrified rats about to get stepped on. When I was young and he’d assumed I was asleep, I’d seen him do horrifying things…stuff I would never forget. But whenever I was there, he was eloquent and soft-spoken, a permanent smile on his face, a completely different man.