Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
She didn't fight for me, didn't fight for us.
I knew better than to get tangled with a mafia princess.
I knew how it would end, only instead of dead, I was left in a much worse situation, having to know she was still alive and being unable to go to her.
Bitterness swam inside of me. Seven years of hatred building because of her silence.
But then her father died, leaving her at the hands of the very man who left me alive.
Not helping her isn't an option, but I second-guess stepping back into her life when I discover the secrets she's been keeping all this time.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Jericho
"Tell me again," she whispers.
"Peach," I whisper, my hand cupping her cheek.
There are a million other things I could think of doing with this gorgeous woman in my arms than talking about a future we may never have.
"Please," she begs, her bright blue eyes shining up at me as she pleads.
I pull in a deep breath and begin, "The cabin in the woods will be surrounded by massive trees. No one will even be able to tell our home is back there. We'll have all the privacy we've been wishing for."
I can't count how many nights I've lain awake thinking of this make-believe cabin and how I know, despite craving it with everything I have, it's not something we'll ever get.
"I want a puppy," she whispers.
"You'll get your puppy," I assure her. "We should leave now."
Her eyes grow wide, just like they always do when the conversation takes us in this direction.
"My father would never allow it. You know I'm promised to Damien."
"Then leaving is the only way we'll have a shot at what we've been dreaming about."
"We have to make plans," she urges. "We have time."
"The wedding date is set for next month. There is no time."
She shakes her head. Aspen is terrified of her father, and there's no way for me to make her see that I can keep her safe. Not with the secrets I've been keeping from her.
"Do you love me?" I ask.
"You know I do," she says, her chin trembling with emotion.
"Can I trust you?"
"Of course, my love," she assures me.
It gives me the confidence to pull in a deep breath and tell her everything I've been hiding from her.
"I need you to listen to everything I have to tell you, and you can't freak out."
My heart races. Everything I have worked for comes down to this moment and, if she doesn't trust me, there's a lot at stake, including my life.
"I promise," she says. I can see the truth of her words in her eyes, but she has no idea about the bomb I'm about to place between us.
"I'm a federal agent working with ICE to take down your father's empire."
She's motionless, blinking at me, like my confession was spoken in a foreign language she doesn't understand.
"What?" she asks, her head tilting to the side as she pushes her hands against my chest.
I won't repeat myself because I know she heard me just fine. I need to give her time to process what I've told her.
As my always bad luck will have it, the door to her bedroom opens.
My heart races for another reason when I see Damien, the man she's promised to, standing there glaring at us.
We aren't undressed or in a compromising position, but it's clear that there's more going on than me being one of her father's cronies.
"Well, well, well," he says just as I open my mouth to ask the motherfucker why he thinks he has a right to open her goddamned door without asking.
I look to Aspen, concerned that he has a history of coming in here, and this is something she hasn't mentioned to me.
Tears roll down her face as she scrambles off my lap.
I don't know if it's the fact that we've been discovered by her betrothed or if it's because of my confession, but my skin grows cold with her absence.
"I think we need to have a conversation with Ivan," Damien says, his tone more level than I've ever heard from him before, which speaks of his anger.
The man is known for his anger and violence. It doesn't take much to send him into a rage, although I haven't seen him kill anyone since I've been on this case. If I had, I would've arrested the motherfucker without ICE's instruction just to get him away from his promise to Aspen. Many are afraid of him because of it, including Aspen. I can't imagine walking away from her and leaving her at his mercy.
"Peach," I whisper, but she continues to scramble from the bed. "Use the email address."
I gave her an email address right after I kissed her for the first time. Her cell phone is monitored, so we couldn't communicate that way. Instead, we use an email address I set up to make it look like it was a company she orders makeup from.
"Luke," Damien snaps. No matter how long I've had that name or how many times these people have used it, I don't think I'll ever get used to being called someone I'm not. "If you try to run, I'll slit your throat."
I don't see a way out of this, but I've only been working for Ivan Reese, a known importer of both drugs and guns, for a few months. As close as I've gotten to the only Reese heir, the organization still hasn't trusted me with a weapon in the house. I have no way other than my hands to defend myself.