Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
I turn and attempt to run back inside the building, but it’s too late. The door is closed and locked. There’s no way past the waiting car and Leonardo’s armed men to get back to the front of the building. I’m trapped.
I wish that Luc were here, and that he hadn’t been called away. If he had been here, none of this would have happened.
“Get in the car, Valentina,” Leonardo calls from his seat in the back of the car. “Other side.”
He motions toward the back passenger door, and one of his men opens it for me.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I hiss.
Leonardo’s face contorts into a mix of amusement and arrogant anger. “It’s sad and rather annoying how you still seem to think that you have a choice in any of this. Just because you flew the coop once, and ran off with that mutt of a consigliere, doesn’t mean that you don’t still belong to me.”
I look over at my father to see if there is any part of him that will help save me from this fate, but he’s already being walked off toward another car. Likely, he can leave now that the deal is complete, and Leonardo has taken me back. Even if Leonardo had threatened my life, my father should have been smart enough to know that Luc would have kept me safe.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Leonardo hisses at me through the open car window. “But we don’t have all day. That rent-a-cop bodyguard of yours out front will come looking for you soon, so I’m going to need you to get in the fucking car.”
When I don’t budge, he motions for one of his men to come and grab me. I try my best to keep my arm protectively over my stomach without drawing attention to it, even though Leonardo is already well aware that I’m pregnant. The man shoves me into the backseat right beside the man that I despise most in this world. And as soon as I’m seated, and the car drives off, Leonardo smirks with a look of complete satisfaction.
“Where are we going?” I ask him.
“I’m going to put you somewhere safe and sound, somewhere that Luciano can’t find you.”
“And then what? Are you going to marry me again?” I scowl at him. “If you do, then I’ll run away just like I did the last time.”
“I haven’t quite decided what I’m going to do with you yet,” he says as he looks out the window, ignoring direct eye contact with me as if my betrayal still repulses him. “I guess that depends on several factors. But for right now, I’m going to take you to one of my acquaintances’ businesses, where you will stay hidden away from prying eyes until I decide what to do about you.”
“We’ll be at the Barone’s warehouse in ten minutes,” the driver says over his shoulder to Leonardo.
“Excellent.”
“Angelo Barone? That’s your new friend these days?” I taunt him. “You know Luc will come for me, don’t you? And he’s going to kill you if you harm me or our child.”
That garners his attention enough for Leonardo to look over at me and glance down at my hand resting on my stomach.
“Ah, yes, the baby. If you really are pregnant, I haven’t yet decided what to do about that either. First things first—your new living quarters.”
When we arrive at the Barone’s warehouse, it looks even more miserable than I’d expected. Not only is it dank and dark and practically abandoned, it’s also completely uninhabitable.
Leonardo gets out of the car and walks around to open my door. When I refuse to get out of the car, he reaches his hand in and pulls me out.
“See now, you had such a beautiful home before, Valentina. You had everything that any woman could ever want—wealth, comforts, baubles, the company of staff and servants, and even the pleasure of my company whenever I was in the mood for you,” he sneers. “Now, you have this—an empty, uncomfortable warehouse where you will sit alone in a room guarded by my men until I decide to take you out. You should have been smarter before you ran from me in Italy. You could have had a pleasant life as a kept woman, and now you have fallen from my good graces.”
With that, he shoves me toward the door of the building, and two of his men walk me inside. I try to get a look at my surroundings before I’m stuffed inside a room, but the light is dim, and everything looks gray and monotone. As soon as the doors are closed, I hear Leonardo giving the guards their instructions outside.
“Feed her, make sure she doesn’t escape, and don’t let her do anything stupid like try to run or hurt herself. I’ll be back soon.”