Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I didn’t know how much I needed that hug until she gave it to me. I rested my chin on her head and closed my eyes. “I love you, Ma.”
“I love you too, baby.” She pulled away, then gently patted both of my cheeks with her palms. “I agree that she’s not the one for you. Because you deserve someone who would never make you feel like this. Someone who would never suck your soul from your body. Take the light from your eyes and leave you in the dark.”
“I really thought you would try to convince me to take her back.” It came as a complete surprise to me when my mom accepted the news and stayed out of it. Never tried to persuade me either way. It wasn’t like her at all to take a step back, especially when it came to family matters.
“No.” She shook her head. “You’re the most exceptional young man, Constantine. I’m not just saying that because you’re my son. You deserve the absolute best, shouldn’t have to forgive and forget, shouldn’t have to tolerate a mistake. The woman who’s meant for you is out there somewhere—and I can’t wait to meet her when you find her.”
Chapter 6
Aurelia
I pulled up to the gates on my motorbike. The gate was the same height as the wall that surrounded his property, at least seventy feet high. Trees were visible over the top, but all the branches that should have extended over the wall had been sawed off so no one could climb over. The wall was also like the one that surrounded the Vatican, angled slightly outward so no one could climb it even if they wanted to.
His security team knew who I was at this point, so they let me inside. I drove my little bike down the driveway and around the fountain in the front, seeing the group of armed men stand there and stare at me.
I smiled awkwardly. “Hi.” I left my motorbike there and hooked my helmet on the handlebar. The second I was behind the walls, the noises of the city were muffled. You could hear the sound of birds in the trees, the falling water from the fountain. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert.
When I made my way up the stairs to the entryway with the double doors, they parted simultaneously, his staff opening the doors for him so he could walk out. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, but his wealth and power made him look like he wore a crown and a cape.
That big smile was on his face—as always.
A smile that could make every inch of me melt into a puddle.
“Hey, sweetheart.” His arms hooked around me, and he pulled me in tight, giving me a kiss in front of his entire staff. “You look cute on that motorbike.” He gave my ass a playful smack before he took the bag from over my shoulder. It was bright pink with white flowers, but he didn’t hesitate to take it.
“Thanks.”
“I worry about you driving it, though.” He took my hand and walked inside with me, into the palace decorated with priceless pieces of human history. The front entryway room was always a spectacular view.
“I’ve been driving a motorbike a long time. I’ll be fine.” I stopped before the Eye of Horus and admired it. “Is everything in this room . . . real?”
“It is.”
“Even those?” I pointed to the enormous statues of Anubis.
“Yep. I see it so often, I forget about it sometimes.”
“That’s wild.”
“You know what else is wild? The Romans were obsessed with Egypt because it was the only civilization that felt ancient to them. Just as the Romans feel ancient to us. And someday, we’ll be ancient to some other civilization.”
“Yeah. That’s deep.”
“Come on,” he said as he nodded toward the next room. “I want to see you naked.”
“Wow, right to the point, huh?”
He grabbed my hand again, and we walked up the several flights of stairs until we reached the mahogany door that separated his wing from the rest of the villa. Then we moved through the enormous gold doors until we were in the sanctuary of his palace.
He carried my bag to the closet.
“Where’s Medusa?”
“On her evening walk.” He came back to me, focused intensity in his eyes, and he immediately scooped me up like I weighed nothing and held me to his chest, kissing me like it was all he’d thought about all fucking day.
I hooked my arms around his neck, and I fell into the abyss of his kiss, my fingers digging into his short hair, feeling the thick slabs of muscle of his shoulders and arms. I’d been picked on in school for being the tallest girl in the class. I’d heard every mean name in the book. Sometimes I had a crush on a guy who was shorter than me, and he acted like I was a freak. Constantine was the first man who made me feel . . . small. Enzo couldn’t have picked me up like that if his life depended on it.