Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“What happens now?” I croak.
“Now…you’ll go to sleep.”
I blink, struggling to keep my eyes open as I manage one last question.
“Are you going to tell me your name?”
He smooths my dress back down and caresses my face.
“You can call me…Il Diavolo.”
3
ABELLA
“Abella.”
I groan when Valentina pokes my arm.
“Wake up,” she whisper-hisses.
A sound of protest rumbles from my chest as I try to shake my head, only to realize my face is stuck to something that definitely isn’t my pillow.
Reluctantly, I open my eyes and blink several times before it occurs to me that I’m at my desk, lying on a stack of real estate brochures. I must have fallen asleep on them. But how long ago was that?
I peel my face from the floor plan for a downtown condo as a memory from last night slams into me. For a moment, I question whether it was a dream—a frequent side effect of my sleeping pills. But as I glance down, the evidence still lingers on my chest.
I brush my fingers over the tiny cut as a reel of the night’s events plays through my mind. I expected to be taken hostage, but instead, my stalker brought me back to the island just before dawn. Strangely, the night guards that usually patrol our side of the island were absent, and the devil himself delivered me right to my room without raising any alarms.
I vaguely remember getting out of bed to wash my face, but I think this was as far as I made it. I had no intentions of telling my father or sister what had happened. He would lay the blame at my feet somehow, and I didn’t want to concern Valentina. But when I glance up at her now, I can see that she already is.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“It’s past four,” she says. “You missed a few appointments with your clients. Your assistant was concerned, so she reached out to me. Gabi and I have both been trying to call you, but you didn’t pick up.”
It takes me a moment to register what she’s saying. There’s no way that can be right. I feel like I hardly slept, and I never miss work.
“Oh god.” I glance around in a panic. “My phone must have died. I can’t believe I slept through it.”
“It’s okay.” Valentina tries to reassure me. “I covered for you and told her you were sick. She rescheduled everyone.”
“It’s not okay.”
I stand up and try to assemble my scattered thoughts. Right now, work is probably the least of my concerns. If my father knew I’d slept all day, he’d be livid. I need to get dressed. I have to make myself presentable. And then I need to call my assistant and apologize.
“Does he know?” I blurt.
“No.” Val hesitates. “Papà was out this morning, but he’s home now and wants to see you in his office.”
“Marone!” I hurry to my closet, flipping through the nearest rack of clothes I keep for occasions I have to face him.
“What do you think he wants?” I call over my shoulder.
“I don’t know.” She frowns. “But Matteo is here too.”
I yank a black Armani sheath dress from the rack as a knot settles in my stomach. There can only be a few reasons Matteo is here, and none of them are good. Either my father is pressuring him to set a date, or he’s come bearing more bad news.
“You have some time,” Val tells me. “I brought them drinks and cigars. Go wash your face, and I’ll help with your hair.”
Normally, I’d rather walk through broken glass than accept help, but I don’t have a choice right now. My father is far worse than broken glass, and I can’t put him off.
After a quick wash, I dress and return to my room, expecting to meet Valentina back at my vanity. But she’s still at my desk, looking over the apartment brochures I left there.
“Why do you have these?” She glances up at me with worried eyes.
I take a seat at the vanity and avoid her gaze. “I was just curious. It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal that you’re looking at real estate in Seattle when you’re supposed to marry Matteo and move to the other side of the island?”
I stare at myself in the mirror, hardly recognizing the woman in the reflection. My features are the same as they’ve always been—pale green eyes, olive skin, black hair. In my mid-twenties, I’m still clinging to my youth. But it’s not my reflection that’s changed. It’s the loss of naivety that’s altered me.
My life didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, but I’ve accepted it for what it is, and I’ve made the most of it. I’ve built a successful business. I dedicate time to hobbies and keep a busy social calendar with my core group of friends. I contribute to my community and stay active with regular Pilates classes. Then of course, there’s Aegis. I have purpose, even if I don’t have the life I envisioned. But I’m still chained by this engagement to Matteo that he refuses to end, and every day I live in this house, I suffocate under my father’s reign. Yet, nobody knows it because I’ve become so attached to the lie that everything is fine, I can no longer verbalize the truth.