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)
“No! Stop it!”
I fight, but Jet’s hands are like handcuffs around my wrists so I can’t straighten, can’t pull away.
“Look at him.”
I shake my head.
“Look at him. So he understands. So you do.”
“Understand what?” I demand. “That you’re insane?”
“So you both understand that you, Allegra, belong to me. That you belong only to me.” My dress is up to my waist now and when I feel him take hold of my panties, I know what he intends to do because there can only be one thing.
I fight with all I have to get free and somehow, some way, I pull one wrist from Jet’s grip and when I do, I make a fist, and I don’t think. I don’t waste a second. Instead, I slam that fist into Jet’s crotch.
The instant I do, his other hand loosens enough that I slip free and straighten, my dress sliding back down my thighs. I stumble backward and mean to headbutt Cassian, but he has just that sliver of time to dodge me. He’s fast. He’s always been faster than me, but hell, he’s a mafia boss. Of course, he knows how to fight.
I whirl on him, but he’s still got me caged in his arms. I can’t swing at him, it would do no good. He’s ready for me. So, I dig my nails into his face, burying them deep with a roar that is years old. An animal cry that I have held inside me for five long years. I break skin and I scratch until he grips my wrists and pulls my hands from his face and somehow, we’ve turned, and he’s got me pressed against the wall. He’s breathing fast now too at least. At least I have that.
“You fucking asshole. I thought you were different. I thought… I fucking thought,” I’m crying and can’t get the words out. Because what did I think? That he cared about me? Jesus. I’m a fucking idiot. “You asshole! You’re the fucking traitor! I will never, never forgive you for what you just did. What you were about to do!”
He snorts, drags my arms over my head and shifts his grip so he’s holding both wrists with one giant hand. With the other, he grips my jaw, fingers digging in.
“You’re violent, Allegra.” His eyes narrow and he leans in close and like the beast he is, he inhales like he’s scenting his prey.
Well, he can fuck right off because I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I will not play good fucking victim ever again!
Five bloody marks on one side of his face. Four on the other. A remembrance why I would rather die than let anyone make a victim out of me again.
“But you know what?” he continues. “I like that about you. I like your fight. It means you’ll survive once I’ve broken you.”
I spit at him, and he flinches. When he looks at me again, I press my back into the wall. He is still bigger than me. Stronger than me.
His eyes search my face, and I feel the effort it’s taking him to hold back.
“And as far as your little game, let me tell you something, Little Moth. Let me tell you something about our world. There are no heroes. We are all villains.”
All I can hear is the roaring of blood in my ears.
“Enzo!” Cassian barks, never looking away.
The door opens and in my periphery, I see Enzo enter.
“Take Allegra home. Tie her to my bed. And stand guard over her until I get there. She’s a tricky one. Can’t be trusted.”
“Fuck you,” I say.
“No, Allegra, you’re the one who’s fucked.”
With that, he tugs me away from the wall and hands me roughly off to Enzo. I’m marched out of the room, barely registering that Jet is still there. That before the door closes, Cassian circles on him.
25
CASSIAN
Ilook at my stepbrother and I think about what I was about to do. What I almost did. What I would have done—would I have done it? If Allegra hadn’t broken free, would I have done what I was readying to do? And what the fuck was it anyway? How much a villain do I want to be to her?
Not.
But I am. And she’s right. I’ve betrayed her too. Any thoughts that somehow with her I’m not a beast, a monster, a villain are ridiculous. Foolish. Any idea that what Allegra and I have is something other than what it is, an exchange, a debt to be paid, collateral, well, that’s my own stupidity.
But Jethro? He will be dealt with.
“You like to play with what belongs to me,” I say.
“Did it occur to you she may not want to belong to you?” he asks, meeting me in the middle of the room.
I grip a handful of his shirt and slam him against the wall. “That’s not up to her.”