Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
“Your father brought you to me,” I say. “You know why?”
She’s still trembling as she nods. “You gave him a loan. He can’t pay it back.”
The corners of my mouth tilt up. She’s afraid, but she’s smart, and she’s showing some spunk.
I step closer.
Her scent is heavenly, and her body is tiny compared to my massive six-foot-six frame. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this girl. The only place I want her to be from now on is right here next to me. By my side.
My body is burning for her. Adrenaline pumps through me. I’m burning and ready. I need to take her—right here, right now.
My lips part, and I lean in to kiss what’s mine.
Here she is. My angel.
But as I move in, Isabella moves back. It’s barely even noticeable, but my eyes are sharp, and I see it.
She’s scared, and she has every right to be. If she was any other woman, I wouldn’t care.
But she’s not any other woman.
She’s my prize, my treasure, my future. And I’m going to prove to her that she has nothing to be afraid of. I’d stand in front of a goddamn train if it meant protecting her.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I whisper, backing off, gently letting a wisp of her hair play through my fingers. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
She hesitates, then looks up at me with those eyes that make me weak in the knees—that make me start picturing our future together—and I gasp for breath.
My heart is alive again, racing, pumping hot blood through my cold veins. I want to drag her into my bedroom and ravish her. Mark every single inch of her body so the world knows she belongs to me.
But not yet.
Not until she trusts me.
I may be a criminal—a cruel bastard with an iron fist—but if I’m going to have this princess, it’s going to be when she wants it too.
“Come on,” I tell her gently. “I’ll show you to your room.”
Growing up poor and starving is what made me into the man I am today, but as I watch Isabella turn and walk ahead of me, I realize I’ve never known what true hunger really is.
Not until now.
2
ISABELLA
My room sparkles like a gilded cage.
Silk and gold everywhere. Modern furniture that looks brand new, and a bed that could fit three of me. This one room is twice the size of Dad’s apartment.
But my new prison isn’t why I couldn’t sleep last night, or why once I finally did, I woke up trembling.
That’s his fault.
Viktor Morelli. The brutal mob boss who runs New York City.
Everyone knows who he is. They call him The Ice Man because he’s so cold. And what did The Ice Man try to do last night?
He tried to kiss me.
And the craziest part is that I almost let him. Almost.
What were you thinking, Bella? I think as I stare up at the ornate painting decorating the entire ceiling.
I was so terrified when Dad brought me in to see him. Selling me off as collateral to the fiercest man in the city? But then when I stepped into his office, his mere presence caused something in me to shift.
Maybe I’m just going crazy, but it was like standing in front of a wild lion and knowing it wasn’t going to eat me.
It was the way he looked at me. Those eyes that should have had me running for my life held me in place like a paralytic.
And that voice—so deep, commanding, but strangely gentle at the same time. “It’s okay, sweetheart. There’s nothing to worry about.”
His words still echo in my mind as I replay our meeting over and over.
I know I should fear him. I should fear everything about my situation and be formulating an escape plan. He’s a killer, for Christ’s sake!
But there’s something about him—like a warm splinter embedded in my chest, and although it stings, I don’t want to pull it out.
Yeah, I’m losing it.
“You’re going to be staying with…someone else for a while,” Dad told me yesterday. He couldn’t even look at me. I knew what was coming. It’s not like he’s kept his gambling a secret from me.
“Someone else?”
“It’ll just be for a while, Isabella. Until I can find the money to get my debt repaid.”
Unbelievable.
And now, I’ve been sold off! My father lost his money, and Viktor owns me now. I’m his to do what he wants with.
I should be terrified.
But if I’m being honest with myself, it kind of turns me on…
With a heavy sigh, I swing my legs out of bed. What am I supposed to do? As I walk into the ornate bathroom, three times the size of my bedroom back home, my body starts tingling.
It’s like I’m in the midst of a war between my rational mind, which is screaming at me to be terrified of this monster who I now belong to, and my body, which is well…making things happen…