Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 15867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
In a world where passion collides with obligation, Maria De Luca finds herself at a crossroads. With her family’s business on the brink of collapse, her father has made a decision that will change her life forever—she’s promised to a man she’s never met. Xavier Romano, a six-foot-three possessive alpha male with a dark past and a burning desire for what’s his. And now Maria is his. As their forced marriage unfolds, Maria is torn between her instincts to flee and an undeniable attraction that pulls her closer. Will she succumb to the heat of their connection, or will she escape? Discover the intoxicating blend of desire and danger in TAKEN, the first book in Lena Little’s Darker Steamy Shorts series.
Maria
My family’s business is in tatters, and the only thing that can save it is if I marry a perfect stranger. The answer is no, obviously … except my dad already promised me to him. My soon-to-be husband I’ve never met, the 6’3 Xavier Romano.
I know I should run, but something about him makes me curious enough to stay. Will having him once sate my curiosity, or am I about to fall hard?
Xavier
Time is running out, and I need a wife. A business associate defaults on his loan to me, and I accept an unusual payment—the hand of his daughter in marriage.
Maria De Luca is a blond, blue-eyed spitfire, and I like her a hell of a lot more than I anticipated. This marriage is supposed to be all for show, but I can’t seem to keep my hands off her.
Will I be able to let Maria go once all is said and done, or will I keep her at my side, no matter what it takes?
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1
MARIA
"Sit down, dear. Quit looking at me like I've grown another head."
My dad is the only one sitting at the dining room table, the food still steaming in the to-go containers from one of his many restaurants. His inviting me to dinner on a random Wednesday is weird enough, but the expression on his face has cranked my suspicions up into the stratosphere.
It's not like Dad and I don't see each other often, but it's rarely ever in my childhood home, and there's always a reason behind it.
Still, I settle into the seat across from him and pluck a breadstick from one of the to-go containers, the garlic butter dripping onto the tablecloth.
"So," Dad says, grabbing his fork. "How are you doing?"
I narrow my eyes at him as I chew. "You invited me here for small talk?”
He snorts. "It's been two weeks since we've hung out. I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. You haven't been returning my calls."
Ouch. Maybe I've been avoiding him a little bit, but things are always weird this time of year, when the anniversary of Mom's death starts to loom.
"Sorry," I say automatically, "I guess I've been distracted. Work and stuff."
"How is work?"
I sigh. "I’m between projects right now. Freelancing isn’t paying what it used to.”
"Hm," he responds noncommittally. Then, he takes a swig of the open beer bottle next to him and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Listen, kid, you know I don't beat around the bush. So I'm going to come out with it."
My shoulders stiffen. "Okay..."
He looks at me, eyes weary. "I'm in trouble, Maria."
"What do you mean?"
"Money trouble. Business trouble.”
I frown. "What happened?"
He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter what happened. It doesn't matter what went wrong. The bottom line is, I messed up."
My heart thumps faster. This isn't like my dad. He's always been an overachiever, driven and ambitious—the type of man who'd rather die than let his empire crumble. He built his business from the ground up, from a tiny restaurant to a chain of thirty locations across the Midwest. He's always been the same way with everything he cares about—hard working, proud, fiercely protective.
This … this is not the father I know. And it scares me.
"How bad is it?" I ask cautiously.
"The worst," he admits, his voice tight. "I don't want to get into the details right now. Just know that I owe a lot of money to someone who really isn't the kind of guy you want to owe anything to. So this was my only option."
"Why can't I just pay off the debt?" I ask, before the rest of his words sink in. "Wait, what's your only option?"
"I've already sold off a few of the restaurants to pay some of the debt," Dad says. "I tried to negotiate with him, and he agreed to a deal, but … you aren't going to like it."
"Just tell me what it is!"
Dad sighs. "You have to marry Xavier Romano."
Shock hits me, but then I laugh before I can let the worry sink in. "This is a joke, right? Who the hell is that? And why does he care who I marry?"
"Xavier Romano is the man whose family owns the spirits distributorship I've been using for the past decade. He's also the man I borrowed several million dollars from."
I drop the breadstick, splattering garlic butter across my plate. "Several million dollars? What the fuck, Dad? How did you let this happen?"
"I don't know, Maria," he says wearily. "I guess I trusted the wrong people. Or I bit off more than I could chew. Maybe a little bit of both. I wanted to expand the restaurants, get them into new markets, and I didn't think twice about getting a loan from Mr. Romano. He seemed like a decent guy, and the deal was solid. I thought he was a businessman, but he needs a wife, and he saw the pictures of you on the walls of my office, and..."
I freeze as the rest of his words sink in. "So, what, he wants to own me?"
Dad shakes his head. "No, he wants you to marry him. It's an arrangement, Maria. But he'll forgive all my debt if you go along with it. And I won't lose everything your mother and I built."
My chest tightens. I've always known that Mom and Dad started the business together, but hearing him use her as a way to manipulate me makes me feel ill. "But why would he want me? He doesn't even know me."
"Because you're beautiful and smart," Dad says firmly. "And I told him you're kind and selfless, and you'll do anything for the people you care about."
I blink back tears as a wave of panic rises inside me. This can't be real. I must be dreaming right now. My dad isn't sitting across from me, saying that some stranger wants me to marry him in order to wipe out a multimillion-dollar debt.