Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
A flicker of remorse flashes in Ares’ gaze, and it feels as genuine as anything ever has from him. But then he lowers his voice and wakes me up with a reality check.
“Even if I said I would, would it make a difference?”
I close my eyes to hide the sting behind them because he’s right. As much as I want to live in a fantasy, it probably wouldn’t make a difference.
“You know, for once, I didn’t want to be right.” He softens his tone. “Not about this.”
I nod, too choked up to speak, and he lets me have that moment. But it doesn’t last long.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Angelo’s voice snaps me from my heartbreak. When I glance up, he’s taking in the scene before him with so much venom it sends a shiver down my spine. Of all the moments for him to walk in on us, it had to be when I was kneeling in front of Ares with my head bowed.
“Abella.” His dark eyes fall on me. “Come here now.”
Without question, it’s an order, and I obey immediately. I don’t know why I start crawling toward him, but it feels like taking the extra few seconds to get up might be perilous. He watches me—the room so silent I can hear my heartbeat thrashing in my ears. When I reach him, he winds my hair around his fist and pulls my head back.
“You like admiring what I have?” he asks Ares.
Ares snorts, not bothering to glance at me. “Yes, you have quite the little pet there, don’t you? Still needs a little training, though. You never know what they’ll get up to off-leash. If you’re interested, I can give you a few obedience tips. My skills are second to none.”
“Leave,” Angelo grits out. “While you still have a chance.”
Ares winks at me as he walks out of my office without a fight.
Angelo releases my hair and grabs my chin, tilting my gaze up to meet his.
“Are you trying to start a war, Abella?”
“No,” I protest. “He wants a suit for the ball.”
A long, tense silence follows. Rage simmers in his eyes as they move over me, and I expect he might bend me over and fuck me to prove a point. But he doesn’t, and it only leaves me feeling emptier.
“I suppose you’re going to tell me who I can work with now,” I say.
“Do what you want,” he growls. “But the next time I see you anywhere near another man’s cock, I’m going to serve it to you on a platter.”
I shudder at the violence of his words, and I can’t help but feel the loss of his warm fingers as he releases my face.
“The only man you kneel for is me.” He gives me one last searing glance, then leaves me there, alone on the floor.
When the realization of what I’ve done settles over me, my stomach churns.
I just gave Ares Stavros all the ammunition he needs to destroy us.
Angelo left the building shortly after our interaction, sending me a brief text telling me not to wait up for him tonight.
He’s angry, and if he knew what really transpired, he’d probably hate me forever. I don’t know what I was thinking, asking Ares that question. It was a moment of vulnerability, and he was an unlikely beacon of hope. That was until he spoon-fed me the truth I didn’t want to hear.
Would it matter if I did?
Those words rattle around my brain as I sit in my empty office under the guise of working late. Truthfully, all I do is stare at my computer screen and suppress the nausea twisting my gut.
Ares was right. It doesn’t matter. Regardless of the stakes of the treaty and its antiquated requirements, I know what Angelo wants. I know what he deserves. And, like it or not, I can’t give it to him.
I also can’t ask him to give it up.
Maybe if circumstances were different, but they aren’t.
I thought I’d come to terms with this reality a long time ago. I cried, mourned, prayed, and cursed. Then I shifted my focus to what I could control. But Angelo came along and ripped open the old wound and made me want things I could never have all over again.
I told myself I’d give it thirty days before I did the right thing, but that was a joke. I watched that date pass on the calendar and just pretended I didn’t notice. Now I’ve fallen so deep into my delusions of hope I’ve resorted to begging the enemy.
I know at some point soon, I’ll have no choice but to tell Angelo. But for now, I’m going to go home and make up with him while I still have the chance.
I shut down my computer and gather up my things. My guards are waiting for me when I step out into the hall. They’re the same guards who were on duty the night Angelo took me to the Cat House.