Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“No!” My fight picks back up, and I whack into him. “Of course it isn’t true. Why would I do that? What benefit would I get from doing something so heinous?”
My throat burns with uncertainty when he murmurs, “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“What?”
He dances his eyes between mine for several heart-thrashing seconds before he repeats, “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That’s how much Valeria is willing to pay for you to carry her child.”
My anger is already at its boiling point, and the reminder of how I’m being portrayed adds gasoline to the fire. I’m not a money-hungry gold digger willing to do anything for some coin. My only wish is to help fund my mother’s cancer treatment.
I’ll keep that information to myself for now, though.
Revenge forever trumps someone else’s reprieve when you’re angry.
“And you, Giovanni? How much are you willing to pay?”
He balks, and that’s when I make my move. I slam my knee into his groin, push him off me, and then clamber back onto my feet. “You can keep your damn money. I don’t want it.”
Mud splashes my face as he grabs my ankle and yanks my legs out from under me. I land breasts-first on the ground a second before Giovanni flips me over, and then he looms over me like the slosh beneath us didn’t saturate my shirt and skirt.
I push at his chest and claw at his arms. “Get off me, Giovanni. I’m serious this time!”
This could be my anger talking, but I swear his balls are gargling in his throat when he replies, “You’re serious?”
“Yes!”
“You want me to get off you?”
“Yes!”
He rocks his hips forward, immediately making me a liar.
“Tell me again you want me to get off.”
I look him dead set in the eyes while growling, “Get. Off. Me.”
This time, he digs his shoes into the soggy earth to leverage his rock.
The instant the head of his throbbing fat cock rolls over my clit, my brain turns to mush and nothing but the chase of climax is on my mind.
Two more grinds and I’ll be done.
Stupid hormones.
What? Blaming others is easier than taking responsibility. Why do you think Valeria is so determined to make me the villain?
Giovanni uses my attraction to his advantage before he recommences his interrogation. “Valeria—”
“Is looking for a scapegoat. She wants someone to blame.” I dig my elbows into the ground and thrust out my chest before deepening my tone. “Unless the accusation centers on her fiancé’s inability to keep his dick in his pants, I’m not her fall guy.”
He tweaks my nipple, setting my blood on fire. “I saw the way your pulse spiked during our meeting with Dr. Di Petro. You know my situation with Valeria is an arrangement.”
“Doesn’t make it any better.”
Another tweak, with his thumb and index finger this time, and another shiver of excitement. “What you don’t know is that I tried to cancel it.”
“You’re a liar.”
“I’m not lying.” My fight loses steam when he adds, “I swear on my mother’s grave that I thought the procedure had been canceled when I took you to my penthouse.”
For several lengthy seconds, I hunt for any cracks in his armor.
When I fail to find a single iota of a hairline crack, the silence stretches, punctuated only by the distant murmur of a guard and the faint chirp of crickets.
“My father is dying.” Giovanni’s hushed words fall around us like boulders. “He’s been sick for months. Some days, he barely gets out of bed. So when he said all he wanted was to see the future of the Caruso dynasty before he went, I made arrangements.” His eyes are on me, hot, heavy, and full of regret. “I didn’t know you then. If I had—”
I Band-Aid the pain tearing through him by kissing him. I understand wanting to give someone you love a reason to hope, and the desperation that comes with watching them slip away, knowing there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. Wholeheartedly.
It makes you careless. Impulsive enough to drug someone and kidnap them? I honestly don’t know. It’s undeniable how far I’ll go for my mother, so it’s reasonable to assume Giovanni would do the same for his father.
In seconds, I realize I am in way over my head.
Giovanni kisses me without reservation. It’s a claiming embrace that brings back my earlier worries. He could do whatever he wants to me, and I’d let him.
I inch back, hoping some fresh air will restore my smarts.
An unsanctioned mouth doesn’t help. With my mouth removed from the picture, Giovanni’s focus shifts to my breasts. He squeezes one in his big manly hand while the other rolls my hardened nipple between his thumb and index finger.
Pleasure blazes through me as my hips involuntarily arch upward. I rub myself along the leg wedged between my thighs, moaning when the crease in his trousers grinds past my clit.