Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Jazz sits opposite me in a plush white leather seat. She’s wearing one of the new dresses she bought with Dante’s money. I swear she tried to get back at him by making a serious dent in his bank account with the amount of glittery evening dresses and embroidered stage costumes she bought. Dante never said a word. He just shrugged and swiped his card.
Already the dictator of my decisions, he selected my outfit this morning. The off-white dress is simple but elegant with a cinched waist and a fitted skirt that reaches my calves. A short slit at the back makes walking easier, but it took time to get used to the heels.
I haven’t worn heels in years—five, to be exact—and the new patent leather is already chafing my skin. I can feel blisters forming on the outsides of my little toes, but that discomfort is nothing compared to the anxiety that leaves me nauseous.
How will Leander react at seeing me? We didn’t exactly part on amiable terms. He tried to reach me throughout the years with messages he posted on social media. Now that I know he’d bugged Noah’s toy and sent men after me, I’m glad I was never tempted to ask him for money or help.
At the thought of those men’s fate, a shiver runs through me. I never had any doubt about the violence Dante is capable of. Yet I don’t think I’ll ever grow used to the killing.
Noah, who’s sitting beside me, pulls on my sleeve and leans closer to whisper not-so-softly in my ear, “I need the bathroom.”
On the opposite side of the aisle, Dante immediately gets to his feet. “I’ll take him.”
He reaches over me to unbuckle Noah’s seat belt at the same time as I reach for it. Our fingers clash. I still have welts from his belt over the back of my thighs. They make sitting uncomfortable, reminding me with each movement on my seat what we’ve done. The memory sends heat to my core. The arousal it triggers is thick and warm like a trickle of honey. Yet that light, innocent touch of our fingers sends a bolt of awareness through me that hardens my nipples. Unlike the lazy, steady flow of sticky honey, this one is sharp and quick like a needle being jabbed into my skin.
Dante finishes the task, so I pull away, self-conscious about my untimely reaction. When he’s taken Noah’s hand and led him to the bathroom at the back, Jazz scoots to the edge of her seat.
She glances over her shoulder to where Reino, Ulysses, and two of Dante’s men sit in the front. One of them, a man with a blond brush cut, glares at me with so much loathing in his pale blue eyes that I look away.
Jazz touches my hands that are clasped together in my lap. “Are you all right?”
“As good as can be, considering.”
Her expression hardens. “Don’t let it get to you.”
She means going back to my parents’ condo, which now belongs to Dante, for the first time after my mom’s death, and facing my brother, who hates me.
“You’re stronger than this, Tiana.”
I nod, not feeling so strong when the pilot announces our descent.
Two cars wait at the airport. Ulysses and the guy who gave me the dirty look in the plane get into the first one. A child safety seat is fitted in the back. Dante lifts Noah into the seat and secures his safety belt. He says something I can’t hear with the noise of the plane engines in the background.
When I make to go around the car to get in on the other side, Dante holds me back.
I frown at him.
He high-fives Noah. “See you later, buddy.”
Reino takes Jazz’s arm and leads her to the back passenger side, but she shakes him off. I give her a panicked look as he manhandles her into the car next to Noah, protecting her head with a hand to make sure she doesn’t bump her head on the ceiling.
I pull on the tight hold of Dante’s fingers around my wrist. “What’s going on?”
My pulse kicks up as Reino shuts the door and the car pulls off. I stare after the vehicle, my heart speeding up more as my child and my friend are being taken away from me.
Dante grips my chin between a forefinger and thumb and turns my face to him. “You’ll see them for dinner. Ulysses is driving them to my house.”
“Where are we going?” I ask through dry lips.
Dante takes my elbow and leads me to the other car. “We have a stop to make on the way.”
He helps me into the back and secures my seatbelt before getting in next to me. Reino drives.
Biting my lip, I stare through the window while doing my best not to fidget with the strap of the handbag that I’m clutching in a death grip in my lap. I don’t ask where Dante is driving me because he’s not going to tell me. I can only trust that he’ll take me back to Noah and Jazz when our business, whatever that may be, is done.