Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
I wonder if she actually did love him and if I was just involved in breaking her heart. Then again, she never made a fuss about him leaving her but made a deal about the Monti family.
“Stop looking at her like that,” Eli says as he approaches the car, seemingly unfazed.
“Did you care for her at all?” I ask as he comes to close my door.
“I liked to fuck her. Care? That’s a strong word. I care for my family, that’s it.”
“So you wouldn’t care if I walked in there right now with your gun and shot her point blank in the head?”
He scratches the stubble along his jaw contemplatively. A devilish smile works his lips as he leans into the car, his lips inches from mine.
“Would you fuck me after?”
I scoff at him. “No.”
He shrugs and says, “Worth a shot,” before closing the door.
When he reappears and sits in his seat, I say, “You have no shame.”
He seems amused by that until I put my feet on the dash to feel more comfortable, and all his humor vanishes. “Remove your feet from my dash at once.”
I sigh as I roll my eyes.
And the asshole is back.
CHAPTER 21
Eli
Besides the blood on her polished floor, it’s been a while since my mother has lectured me.
“You were reckless, Eli,” she says, biting the edge of her nail. I know this lecture is going to be particularly bad because she came all the way from her firm this morning right before a big case. She’s dressed in a business suit, and right now, I wish it were my father because there is nothing worse than my mother looking at me with disappointment.
My father sits comfortably across from me, almost smug that it’s me getting in trouble and not him. They both barged into my apartment twenty minutes ago, waiting for their coffees first before blasting me.
She throws her arms in the air. “Are you even going to explain why you thought it was a good idea to shoot up a public restaurant? Do you know how much paperwork I’ve had to cover this morning just to solidify that your payoffs last night are ironclad?”
My father smirks behind her. Yeah, of course, he does because we both know that money and threats speak volumes, but my mother ensures everything is contracted and legally, or in some cases not-so-legally, binding.
Hawke and Ford are standing outside the room, and I know they’re confused about last night. Hell, I can’t even put a particular reason behind it. Not a sane one any way.
“I was teaching them a lesson,” I simply say.
“The restaurant owners?” My mother arches an eyebrow.
“No, an… acquaintance.”
I can see the cool calculation in both of their gazes. The problem with having incredibly educated and crafty parents is that you don’t get away with much until you learn to be better than them.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with Mr. Bedore calling me up about his daughter in hysterics after you broke up with her, does it?” my father asks.
“They were never dating,” Mother says quickly, switching to my defense. Then she looks at me. “Wait, did you…? Why? Is this acquaintance a woman?”
My father perks up with interest now. It would be easy to tell them about Jewel, but something in me wants to keep it quiet, if only for another few days. To keep her to myself and assert complete dominance before I introduce her to my family because the moment they know about her, they’ll start snooping, and I need to make sure Jewel thoroughly understands her part to play. If my parents know I’m tricking them with a marriage of convenience just for the business, it won’t go down well.
“No. And did we not discuss a while ago that my business is my business?”
“If it’s a woman, I think you should know they don’t take kindly to shoot-ups in the middle of restaurants; it has no woo factor,” my mother says, pinning my father with a disapproving glare.
If only she knew the woman in question lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw blood. Although, perhaps last night, she wasn’t particularly fond of it.
“I disagree,” my father says. “Lessons are to be taught. The most effective way is to scare someone into submission. If they know there are fates worse than death, they’ll comply. Don’t tell me you’re still mad about me killing your boss, princess. That was almost thirty years ago.”
She shakes her head disapprovingly and then takes a sip of her coffee. “He is not the only person you killed because they got too close to me, Crue. What about the date I had before we were even together? You killed him in my apartment when I brought him home.”
“And I’d do it again.” His hands grip the chair tightly. Interesting. It’s rather obvious who I take after in matters of conveying ownership.