Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
STELLA
I stare at the girl in the mirror wearing that beautiful bride’s gown covered in glitter. Her skin and her cheeks are lathered in rouge to hide the mark left by a man’s hand. All of this is a mask to hide the terror within.
I suck in a breath and try to hold it together so I don’t ruin my mascara with tears.
I will not cry for this man. I will not fucking cry for this man.
There’s a knock on the door.
“Ma’am, it’s time to go,” the maid says.
Time slipped by so quickly, I didn’t even notice.
“I’m coming,” I reply.
Sucking in another breath, I take my final glance at the girl I used to be, then turn around. I’m walking straight into the claws of death; a wedding where I’m the bride and my husband will be a soulless killer who only wants me as payment for a debt.
I open the door, and the maid smiles at me like there’s something to be happy about. “You look gorgeous, ma’am.”
I smile back. “Thank you.”
It’s nothing but empty words from an empty heart.
We go downstairs, where an entire entourage waits for us. Family, friends, I don’t actually know. I’ve never seen any of these people before.
As long as they’re tied to Lucio, they could be dead to me for all I care.
Lucio throws me a fake, lopsided smile from the bottom of the stairs as I walk down the steps in my high heels. He takes my arm and leans in to whisper, “If you say one bad word to these people, I will ruin your first night and many more to come.”
My body shivers at the thought of this man putting his hands on me.
He whisks me out of the house right into his limo. It’s nothing more than an expensive prison, just like my room.
Will I ever see the outside world again without his supervision?
We drive off for God knows how long to God knows where. But if I know anything about Lucio, he’ll make a proper scene out of this marriage that neither of us wants. He’s not actually interested in making me his wife … he just wants what my family has, the infinite wealth hidden by my stubborn father.
There was nothing else I could give him as a promise of payment for the money I borrowed from him … except my hand in marriage.
The car ride seems to last forever. Or maybe that’s just because adrenaline continuously pounds through my veins, tensing me up beneath this corset. God, I can hardly breathe. He dressed me up like a doll, and my boobs nearly spill out of the dress. He keeps looking at me, taking peeks as if he can’t wait to rip it all off my body, and the thought makes me physically ill.
I look out the window instead, but he immediately grabs my chin and reminds me of my place. “After today, you become my wife. You will do everything I tell you to.”
I jerk free from his grip. “I don’t care.”
“You say that now, but wait until your mother sees you.”
My eyes widen, and I hiss, “Don’t you bring my mother into this.”
“Don’t you know?” He tilts his head. “She’s going to be there to watch you walk down the aisle with me.”
Oh God.
I nearly puke right then and there.
Why did he invite her? Why does he force her to sit through this?
“You and I both know there’s only one thing I really want,” he says. “And that means you and I have to put on the greatest show of a lifetime.” He grabs my knee and squeezes. “So you’d best put on a good performance and pretend you actually like me.”
His fingers draw up my knee, closer to my thigh, and I wince at the thought of what he’s going to do to me after we’re married. I’ve managed to keep him from claiming me until now, but I doubt he’ll respect my denial after he’s put his grimy ring on my finger.
“We’re here,” he says, as the car comes to a stop.
How did we even get here so quickly? Did I lose track of time?
Lucio steps out of the car, leaving the driver and me all by ourselves. I stare out the window as a girl walks up to the car and opens my door.
“Are you ready for your big day? Let’s go inside,” she says with a nauseatingly cheery smile on her face.
She might be one of Lucio’s assistants, but I haven’t seen her before. Must be a new one, after the other one bailed … Or he killed her.
Chills run up and down my spine.
“Take her to her room,” Lucio tells the girl without even throwing me a single glance. “Prepare her. I want this thing ready to go in ten minutes, tops.”