Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Me: That was fast.
Angelo: Not much to look into. She’s pretty much been kept behind closed doors since she was fifteen.
I glance at her before clicking to open the folder. Jet’s right. She’s under my skin.
“What did he do?” she pushes. “Because I think it does matter, because if he can’t pay it back, won’t you make an example and put the Moretti’s back in their place? A woman, you said. Won’t you make an example of me then? That’s why you took me, after all.”
I merely glance at her, but don’t respond, grinding my teeth together to keep my mouth shut as I scan the file. I’ll read it properly later.
She reaches out to close her hand over the screen of my phone and I see the space where the missing finger should be. She’s been subjected to violence she should not have been subjected to. I know it in my gut. I know this was no accident.
“Sorry to interrupt your very important scrolling, but this very much concerns me,” she says.
I close the file. “Be smart, Allegra. Do as I say and drop it.”
“Tell me what happens to me if he can’t pay,” she insists.
I shift my gaze from her hand to her face, take in those amber eyes, counting the gold rings circling each iris.
“There is no if, Moth. And there is no your life. There never was.”
“What does that mean?” she asks after a beat.
“Did you hear what I said? About daughters and the role you play?” She watches me, waiting for me to continue. I’m sure this is not what she wants to hear, but she’s only fooling herself if she believes anything else. “You’re a pawn. However you claim your father felt about you, you were a pawn to him and you’re a pawn to your brother. I know about the marriage contract that was being negotiated before he passed. The one Michael finalized.”
“That wasn’t…”
“But all of that is beside the point. There will be no marriage, not anymore,” I say, surprising myself with the declaration because I suppose I just decided it. “And Michael won’t be able to repay his debt.”
Her forehead furrows, she shakes her head. “He has a week. You said, he has a week.”
I snort. “If he had a lifetime he couldn’t pay it back.”
“But you—”
“And even if, by some miracle, he did, that wouldn’t matter, not anymore.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart.”
“You can’t just change the rules at will."
“Don’t be naïve, Little Moth.” I tuck a lock of wild hair behind her ear.
She slaps my hand away. “I’m not naïve and stop calling me that,” she says as the SUV comes to a stop in front of the Moretti house and the solider in the passenger seat opens my door.
“But you are naïve, Little Moth.” I lean closer, my gaze sweeping her features, noting the smooth skin, the slight flush that creeps over it whenever I’m near. I pull her to me, press my cheek to hers and bring my mouth to her ear. “Because you don’t yet understand that you already belong to me.”
9
ALLEGRA
“What?” I hear myself ask when he draws away, looking down at me. My heart is racing, my stomach in knots.
Cassian steps out of the SUV, eyes locked on me. He extends his hand, palm up, to help me out.
“Legra!” Daniel calls out, running up behind Cassian.
“Smile for the little one, Moth,” Cassian says, never shifting his gaze, his own eyes unsmiling.
I fix my expression. Steel myself.
“Daniel,” I say, forcing the smile on my face. I slide Cassian’s coat off my shoulders and ignore his offered hand as I climb out of the SUV. I scoop Daniel up before Cassian can think of picking me up to carry me to the front door. I’d be mortified.
At five, Daniel is still easy to lift. He’s skinny with long arms and legs. “I missed you,” I tell him, burying my nose in his messy, curly blond hair. He got that from his mom. That and her sky-blue eyes. Amal has the same eyes and curls, but her hair is a deep blue black inherited from Malek. She’s striking.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Amal says as I engulf her, too.
“Me too. You okay?” I whisper in her ear.
She holds me tight, and I feel her nod. “You?” she asks, pulling back far enough I can see her looking over my shoulder at Cassian.
“I’m fine.”
I meet Malek’s gaze as I set Daniel down. He comes down the hall and doesn’t look surprised to see us. It makes me wonder what Cassian’s true motive is for bringing me here. I’m very sure it’s not so I can see Amal and Daniel.
“Allegra, good morning. You look well,” Malek says after looking me over.
“All things considered,” I say.
“Cassian.” Malek extends a hand that Cassian only looks at. “Well,” Malek says, awkwardly tucking his hand into pocket. “Come in.”