Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
I glance around the room and find that, instead of it looking elegant or sexy, it’s kind of bland. There’s a queen-size bed in the middle of the room with a floral comforter neatly tucked into it. There’s a white wicker dresser and two nightstands and a TV hanging in the corner.
On the floor is a blush-colored rug, and on the bed is …
“Oh my God,” I gasp.
There are textbooks and pajamas.
Kane is re-creating the scene.
This is supposed to be a teenage girl’s room.
She told me to get comfortable.
I run my fingers along the pajamas and then take a deep breath.
I can do this.
I change out of my outfit and into the pajamas and then have a seat on the bed. When nothing happens and Kane doesn’t show up, I grab one of the books, curious if he picked them out or if he told an employee to randomly place a few textbooks on the bed to set the scene.
The first one is an accounting textbook. There’s no way that can be a coincidence.
I flip through it, remembering all the nights I spent studying. Suddenly, the door clicks open. I glance up, prepared for what’s to come. Only nobody enters.
And then I’m grabbed from behind.
I was so focused on the decor that I didn’t notice there was another door.
“You fucking bitch,” a masculine voice growls, throwing me onto the bed. “You’re a fucking tease and a slut!”
He pins my arms to the bed, and my heart pounds in my chest.
This feels too real.
Too raw.
And for a moment, I’m taken back to my college apartment, and instead of Kane holding me down, it’s Anthony.
Only this time, I refuse to cry.
I can’t change what happened to me back then, but I’m in control now.
“Fuck you!” I bark, pushing against his chest and kneeing him in the balls. “Don’t you fucking touch me.”
He rolls to the side, groaning, but then he quickly recovers and grabs me by my hips, flipping me onto my stomach.
He’s not giving up. And if I don’t fight harder, I’m going to be raped again.
I think about what I was taught in the self-defense classes I took, and I lift onto my hands and knees and push back with my butt, getting him away. Then I sit up and fling my head back, hitting him in the face.
He drops onto the floor, and I scramble off the bed, ready to run out of the room, when my eyes land on the man sitting on the floor with blood dripping from his nose.
It’s not Anthony.
It’s Kane. My husband.
My body sags, and despite the crimson leaking from his nostrils, he catches me, pulling me into his arms.
“Fuck, Princess, you did so good,” he rasps.
“I’m so sorry,” I cry, letting my emotions pour out of me as I grab the hem of Kane’s shirt and bring it up to his nose to stop the bleeding. “I knew it was you, but then … it was like you turned into Anthony and—”
Kane tenses, and I pause, debating whether to backtrack or carry on.
But Kane makes the decision for me when he says, “Anthony … as in Anthony Rothschild?”
“Yes,” I choke out. “He raped me.”
I stare at Kane’s stricken face, but thankfully, he doesn’t let me go.
“Jesus, Bri. Please tell me my dad didn’t know.”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Anthony raped me, and then everything spun out of control. Andrey found out I was pregnant and killed my boyfriend and then forced me to have an abortion. My entire world had exploded, and I couldn’t handle it, so I went to Russia to live with my grandparents and didn’t return until Dominick showed up and forced me to come home after they both passed away.”
My cries turn into sobs after I finally tell him the entire truth. And even though I don’t know what this will mean for us, it feels good to tell him everything.
“I’m so sorry, Princess,” he murmurs, holding me tight. “I promise no one will ever hurt you again.”
I want to tell him that he can’t promise that, but the conviction in his words has me almost believing him. As I cry in his arms, with him murmuring comforting words in my ear, my last thought before I fall asleep is that right now, the only person who can hurt me is Kane. Because I’ve given him my heart, and now I have to hope he doesn’t break it.
30
Kane
Brielle was raped by my flesh and blood.
And then she was forced to have an abortion.
She had her boyfriend and baby ripped from her.
She fled to Russia and then was forced to come home.
Where she tried to get her life on track.
And then what did I do? I forced her to marry me.
I knew she craved control, had scars that ran deep, but I didn’t know how deep they went.