Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
She huffs, and I can smell the liquor on her breath.
Loosening my hand, I run my fingers down her chest, smearing the bubbles across her smooth skin. “I know you’re upset.” I soften my voice, and her eyes harden. “But I’m not going to cheat on you. I love you.”
Eve slams her hands into my chest. I take a few steps back to give her some space. “I don’t know why,” she grinds out.
“Why what? Why I love you?” I frown.
“No one loves a whore.”
“You’re not a whore.” This is what years of grooming does to someone. I have no problem constantly reminding her that she has worth. I will devote my life to it.
“I begged you to fuck me that night on the Isabella, Kash. You said it that night yourself…I was about to be raped but threw myself at you instead.” She drops her eyes to her bare feet. “That’s what a whore does.”
“You were confused,” I argue.
She shakes her head. “I knew what I wanted.” Her eyes glance up at me. “But that was then, and this is now.”
“Exactly—”
“This is forever,” she whispers, staring at her ring. “I don’t want you to resent me in five, ten, fifteen years.” Her watery eyes plead with mine. “I won’t be able to live with you not loving me.”
“I’m always going to love you, Eve. Until the day I die.”
She licks her lips and glances away. “I don’t deserve your love.” Her watery eyes glance aimlessly around the bathroom. “I don’t deserve any of it.”
“You deserve the world, Eve, and I’m going to give it to you. Anything you want, it’s yours.” I don’t care what it costs me—money or my life. I’ll gladly pay it.
“Our fathers…”
“Are dead,” I interrupt her. “They can’t hurt you anymore.” Taking her face in my hands, I force her eyes on mine. “You know that, right? That I’d never hurt you, Eve. Not like they did.” I’m human. So I can only imagine that I’ll hurt her along the way somehow, but what our fathers did to her? Never. I want my wife to have a normal life. To have freedom as long as she’s safe. I take a step toward her, and she matches it, pushing her back into the door.
“I let them ruin our future.” She sniffs. “I let them take everything from us.”
She couldn’t have fought them and won. “You were just a child, Eve.”
“They didn’t treat me like one,” she admits, and my chest aches for my wife. Her bottom lip starts to tremble before she nibbles on it. “First time they raped me I was fourteen. I didn’t even have my first period until I was fifteen. You would think they’d know how that works…” She trails off, and I allow her a second to collect her thoughts. “Saint’s father stayed away from me for the most part. He rarely paid me any attention.” Her voice is soft, and I have to strain my ears to hear her. “Adam’s did the same. I think they both knew I wasn’t going to get pregnant. But my father wouldn’t give up…” She drifts off. I’m not sure if it’s the conversation or the alcohol. Maybe a mix of both.
She blinks her eyes, her heavy lashes fanning her cheeks. I step closer to her, afraid she’s about to pass out and fall to the floor, but she looks up at me.
“My father raped me in hopes to get me pregnant.” She nods to herself. “But yours…” Her eyes drop to the bottle of whiskey.
What could be worse? I need to know what my father did to my wife when she was a child. What she went through. It’s like watching the videos. A sick part of me needs to know.
She wraps the towel around herself. A sign that she’s going to share something because she wants to cover her body. Shield it from me. “He would come into my room. Tie my hands behind my back and yank me off the bed.” Her watery eyes meet mine. “He’d say, ‘Worthless whores get fucked on the floor.’ Then he’d shove my face into the carpet and say, ‘Your cunt may be useless, but at least your ass serves a purpose.’” The first tear runs down her face, and I step into her.
Cupping her cheeks, I lick my lips. “I’m so sorry, Eve.” My words are pointless and hollow. They won’t change her past.
I hate myself for needing to know. What did it change? Nothing. What did it help? Not a Goddamn thing.
“I wish I would have known…I would have protected you.” Does she blame me? Is that why she thinks I’ll hurt her? That I’m playing some long game here where I make her my Lady and then fuck around on her and have children with someone else? I’d never do such a thing.