Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing at all.”
He didn’t wear a shirt, and he had on a pair of old-looking sweatpants. “I just wanted to see what you did.”
Harper frowned and she pushed some of her hair of her face. She was very much aware she was not put together. Her hair was a mess from sleeping deeply. Her pajamas were creased from a night’s sleep. She didn’t have a single hint of makeup on, not that she wore a lot, but she did put on a little of what she owned. Enzo always saw her well put together. Nothing like this. This was a bit of a nightmare.
“Do you want a coffee?” he asked.
“Uh, yes.” He’d gotten closer, and Harper couldn’t believe how good he smelled. She knew he always smelled good, but this was up close and personal before it had a chance to mellow out. She tilted her head back to look at him, and he stared down at her.
“I better go and get changed.”
Her nipples had hardened. Her stomach felt like it was in knots. She never felt this way about anyone. Not even boys in high school, because none of them appealed to her.
There was no way she was falling for her boss. Enzo was grumpy and was a part of the mafia, and he was her boss. All of them were giant red flags. Yet, even as she kept trying to tell her body this wasn’t going to happen, her body craved something.
She was a freaking virgin.
Growing up with a man like her dad, she had hated men most of the time, assuming they were all like her father. She didn’t trust him. He was a cold, hard man, only interested in earning money and a title.
She closed her bedroom door, leaning against it. This was bad. Not that Enzo had even given any hint of wanting her. This was all inside her head. He simply stared down at her pajamas, there was no come-on, or whatever it was men did. She could totally be misreading all of this.
Harper pulled the clip from her hair and grabbed a brush, convinced this was all a giant mistake. Enzo was not looking at her for sex or fun. He had all kinds of women falling over themselves. Besides, he was part of the mafia, and he was a Capo, which meant he had to marry a woman who came from a good family. The right kind of family. A family that provided wealth and status.
She changed into her uniform and made her way to the kitchen. There had to be a reason Enzo was up early. Did this mean he was going to leave the house?
He was in the kitchen, sipping his mug, holding another in his hand, which he held out to her. She took the drink from him, and had a sip.
“Why do you wear a uniform?” he asked.
Harper frowned and glanced down at herself. “This is what was provided for me on the day I started here.”
He wrinkled his nose. “You don’t have to wear it. You’re the only one working here, so wear what you want.”
Harper didn’t know what to say. The uniform was the easiest thing to choose every morning. She had three of them, giving her one to wash, one to wear, and one for spare in case of emergencies. This worked for her. Besides, she didn’t have a lot of clothes. A couple of pairs of jeans, a few shirts, and a couple of dresses. She didn’t need anything else.
“It’s fine. I like wearing it. How’s the pain today?” she asked, looking at his arm.
“Fine. There is no pain.”
He refused to take pain medication, even though she did offer it to him. She knew Kent had also offered him pain medication, but the man was stubborn and refused. She wasn’t going to question him. He was the boss.
“What’s the plan for today?” she asked. She hoped he’d tell her he was going to be out most of the day. This meant she could catch up on work, not have to worry about cooking him lunch, and perhaps just worry about dinner.
“You’re coming to the gym with me,” he said.
Any hope she had of having a day far away from him evaporated right before her eyes.
****
Enzo knew she was trying to get rid of him. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
She stayed in the servants’ quarters of the house, in a small room. He’d already checked over all of her stuff and knew she didn’t have a lot of possessions. The wardrobe was sparse, and the clothes she did possess were well-worn. Something wasn’t right here.
He paid her a fortune and had done so for the past two years, yet she didn’t spend any money. All she had were the notebooks, which she had gotten one of the other staff members, when they were employed by him, to get them for her. Harper hadn’t left the house in two years, but he wasn’t keeping her prisoner here.