Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
I take the wine and sip from it. “Yes. I hope it won’t be my last. I love it here.”
She glances at the villa. “You’ve both been staying here the entire time?”
“Yes,” I say, deciding to leave out the part about Sasha and her vacation home.
She watches me as she drinks and then smokes. I feel like she’s examining every inch of my body and her stare nearly burns me as she does.
“I’m not sure that I like you,” Cora says as she takes a long inhale from her cigarette.
Yeah, I already know that. She’s made that quite clear.
“I understand that,” I say, focusing on keeping my voice calm and in control.
Her eyebrows rise. “Really? It doesn’t bother you to have a woman sitting across from you expressing her distaste for you?”
I casually shrug and stare out upon the scenery. “I’ve put Nick in a dangerous situation. I can understand how someone who cares about him wouldn’t be happy about that fact.”
She’s quiet. All I can hear is the exhale of her smoke.
I turn to look at her. “Whether you believe me or not, this wasn’t planned. This isn’t some scam, some manipulation, or anything sordid that I’m sure has run through your mind.”
“Then what is it? I still don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m someone who loves Nick,” I confess. Saying the words feels foreign and yet feels… freeing. “I love him and would die before I’d stand by and let him take a bullet for me.”
Her eyes narrow. “He may very well take that bullet regardless of what you want. You did this. You made this mess.” She extends a finger to point at me, a swirl of smoke wrapping around her painted nail. “It’s your job to clean it up. Not his.”
I look out toward the view again and nod. She’s right. It is my mess to clean up. I just don’t know how to do it.
“I left Bishop’s Landing thinking that was the best thing to do. I tried to leave Nick so he wouldn’t have to deal with all this,” I say. “But as you can see, he found me.”
“And do you believe it’s because Nick loves you?” she asks.
“No,” I admit. “I would never assume Nick loves me. I’m just a contract to him. A pawn in his game.”
“But you love him?”
I shrug, shaking off the pain of the reality the best I can. I love a man who does not love me in return. Just as my mother did my entire life. But I refuse to allow Cora to see this pain if I can help it.
“I don’t think Nick is capable of love,” she says. “Admiration for others, friendship, loyalty for sure. But that man broke into a million pieces the day he was driven off that cliff. Bones repaired but nothing more.” She inhales. “Has he told you about the accident?”
I nod. “It’s awful.”
“His mother worked for me as an assistant. When everything happened, it came to light that he had no other family. He had no one left in the world. The last thing I needed was a child in my life, but at the same time, it’s not like I could stand by and watch him fall into the system. There was something about him I liked. He was a fighter. A survivor. Nothing could kill him. Not even doing a nose dive off a cliff into a rocky sea below. I knew the minute I watched him take his first step in full body cast that this boy would be special. I knew that if I gave him enough tools in life to succeed, that he’d rule empires. And he has. He went from pauper to king. And not because of me. But because of him.”
“I’ve never met a stronger person,” I agree.
“I made it my mission to break the cycle. I would never allow that broken boy to become his father. I would never allow him to heal but only to be weaker than before. It was my job to teach him how to be ruthless, cunning, intelligent, and how to succeed in life. Real life. Nick had the potential to be extraordinary, and I was determined for him to live up to that potential.”
I don’t know what Cora Pillar does for a living, but it’s pretty clear that Nick got into his life of crime due to her. If I wasn’t already intimidated by this woman, I am even more now. Clearly Nick learned everything that makes him terrifying from this woman.
She stamps out the cigarette into an ashtray and leans back in the chair. “There’re stories of women destroying kingdoms because of the power between their legs.” She runs her gaze up and down my body before locking eyes with mine. “I won’t let you destroy what he’s worked so hard to build.”