Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Smiling, he sits down next to me. “I told you why I wanted it back, but I never told you why Lee and I stole it.”
My mouth goes dry. I know instinctively what he’s about to tell me is going to be heavy. “Why did you?”
“To prove my worth to your father.”
“Your worth? But you were already working for him.”
“As a guard, yes.”
I study his face. “You wanted a promotion?”
A smile tugs at his lips. “You could say that.”
“Proving your worth by stealing this”—I motion at the box—“seems preposterous.”
“What can I say? I was young and cocky. I wanted to show your father that I could exceed his every expectation.”
It sounds incredulous. “So you stole the necklace to prove a point to my father?”
He watches me solemnly. Darkly. “I did, but then he broke our agreement, killed my brother, and kept the necklace anyway.”
I flinch at the dishonorable way in which my father acted even though it doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is that Dante was willing to trade the necklace for a higher position in my father’s hierarchy.
“But the necklace is priceless.” I glance at the box again. “You could’ve sold it and built your own empire. What could you have possibly gained by trading it to my father?”
He looks me dead in the eyes. “You.”
The declaration bowls me over. “Me?”
“That’s why your mother told me she’d given it to you before she passed away in my arms. I wanted her to know she didn’t have to worry about you, that I’d always take care of you.” His expression is pained. “It was all I could do for her in those last moments—offering her peace. So I confessed my reasons for stealing the necklace. Once she’d heard me out, she didn’t hold back the truth. She told me she’d taken the necklace and that you knew where it was.” He pauses. “But she didn’t have a chance to tell me that you were pregnant or what your father had done to you. She was gone before she could tell me about your plans.”
I swallow hard, fighting to contain my emotions.
“From the first time I saw you, I knew I was going to make you mine. Do you remember that day in the rain, the first day I was in charge of your security?”
“How can I forget?” I ask through numb lips.
“That’s the day I knew. I waited a few months, and then I approached your father.”
“You approached him?”
“I asked him for a contract.”
“A marriage contract,” I whisper, battling to get my mind around the information.
“Yes, a marriage contract. Your father told me you were destined for someone more worthy of you, so I pledged to prove myself to him. I said I’d bring him something of great value, and he said if I managed to impress him, he’d agree.”
Oh, my God. “Only, he didn’t.”
Hatred turns his eyes hard and cold. “He was impressed, all right. But he wasn’t going to give his only daughter to a man with no power or territory. He told me he’d already signed a contract with Stein, which would actually add value when it strengthened his own power and wealth. As for me, he called me an idiot and decided to make an example of me.”
“So he had Leander kill Lee and took the necklace.”
Dante’s face hardens. “To teach me my place. He thought he’d break me and have a good laugh about it with your future fiancé.”
Shock courses through me. “That’s why you chased me so hard. You wanted to get your own back.”
“No, Tatiana.” He cups my jaw, his hold a little too tight yet perfectly right. “I chased you so hard because I wanted you. It’s always been you, darling.”
I blink. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He drops his hand, releasing me. “In the beginning, I couldn’t. If you’d known I was using you for information, you would’ve told me to take a hike. I was going to explain when it was all over, when your father was dead. If you’d waited for me on that night, if you hadn’t gone to your father and told him you were pregnant, your mother would’ve been alive, and I would’ve told you everything. You and Noah would’ve been safe.”
The pain of old twists me up inside. “Are you blaming me?”
“Blaming you?” He stabs his fingers through his hair. “There’s only one person who can be blamed for everything that’s happened, and that’s me.”
He’s wrong. I too carry my share of the blame. My actions had consequences, and I’ve always believed in owning up to my actions.
His voice is level, but his torment is clear in his amber gaze. “I knew there was a good chance that you’d never forgive me, but I thought I had time. I thought I’d have a lifetime to make it up to you. Only, your mother had gotten into the car when she wasn’t supposed to go with your father, and when I got to the condo, you were gone.”