Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Daria,” I started softly. “If you don’t give me my ring, I swear to God, I will haunt you to the ends of the Earth and back. I’ve been relatively quiet throughout this sham of a divorce, but I can happily—happily—get loud. I can leak pictures too. I can drag your name through the mud until you have nowhere to turn without someone eyeing you as the complete piece of trash you are. And when you’ve had enough here and go somewhere else, I’ll follow. I. Will. Fucking. Obliterate. You,” I promised. “Now give me my mother fucking ring.”
Her lashes fluttered and her eyes dropped away. “Fine, Lucian,” she finally caved, struggling to meet my eyes. She stepped over to the entryway table and tugged out a drawer, snagging the ring, before slamming it back shut. “I never liked it anyway. The style was gaudy and outdated. I used to make excuses that your mother came from a poor background and didn’t know how to design a ring to the other women at the club, so they’d stop mocking your dead mother’s ring.”
Daria dropped the ring in my outstretched palm with a slight tremble to her hand. When she moved to slam the door in my face, I pressed my foot to the bottom, holding it open. Her gaze jerked down and back up with a grunt of disgust tinged with fear.
Good.
The spark of excitement from seeing her eyes flash with doubt punctured my high. Never in my life had I ever relished a woman fearing me. Never had I ever wanted it. I spent my childhood learning from my parents to respect women and care for them. Even when I became a Dom, I never wanted a woman’s fear. But something inside me liked Daria’s, and that terrified me.
“Do not speak of my mother. Don’t speak of anyone in my family. If I ever find out that you dare dirty their names with your filthy, lying mouth, I will come for you and ruin you. Understood?”
Another swallow.
Another troubling spark of excitement.
“Fine, Lucian.” She covered her nerves with an eye roll. “Just move on with your pathetic life. Thanks for the fortune.”
She slammed the door in my face, and I gripped the ring.
The sharp edges dug into my palm, grounding me. With a deep breath, I stepped away from the place I thought would be the home I’d raise a family in and ran to Felix and Grace’s house, demanding they take the ring because I never wanted to see it again.
Cool metal pressed into my palm, bringing me back. I looked down to find my hand clutched around the knife beside my plate like it had been around the ring that day. Clearing my throat, I released it and gathered myself, hoping Felix missed the uncontrolled show of emotion.
“Why would you think now is the time?” I asked. Playing dumb was not the answer, but seeing the ring scrambled my brain, and I couldn’t conjure a better plan.
“You’ve talked about this woman for a while now and you seem happy with…with…”
“Aspen,” I supplied.
“Yes. Aspen,” he proclaimed, as if it was on the tip of his tongue rather than a name I’d only mentioned once. A name I highly, deeply, painfully regretted giving. My guilt compounded, blocking me in. “I thought you might need it for Aspen.”
I barked a soft laugh. “You want me to ask someone you barely know the name of to marry me? You haven’t even met her and can’t remember her name. What if you hate her?”
“That’s because someone was rather tight-lipped with it,” he accused. “And it doesn’t matter if I like her or not.”
“Of course it does. She’ll attend dinners with me and then you’d be miserable if you hate her.”
“Then it will only be a few dinners before I pass and as long as you’re happy with—”
“Don’t say that!” I demanded, my tone offering no room to argue.
Felix paused with his mouth open before sighing, sinking into the tufted blue cushion behind him. With another deep breath, he dragged his hand through his wispy hair and shook his head, looking up.
The dread poured from his yellowed eyes and sank into my stomach like an anchor weighing it down to the pits of hell. This, I thought. This is the reason he pushed to see me. Not the ring, but whatever came next.
I tried to brace myself, but knew it wouldn’t be enough.
“I visited the doctor last month, and they informed me that the cancer has spread to my lungs.”
Woosh.
Every ounce of air leaked from my body, leaving behind the dull thump of my pulse attempting to keep going despite the lack of oxygen. But the boy who loved Felix like he was his own father stomped his foot. He didn’t want to keep going.