Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Yeah, that much I know,” I groan. “Maybe these will help. Give them to her and tell her I want to see her dance.”
Zara eyes the ballet shoes in my hand and shakes her head as she takes them from me. “Isn’t there some saying about how you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink?”
“Just do it.”
It takes less than two minutes for Zara to return empty-handed. “She took the shoes.”
“Good,” I nod. “That’s progress.”
“I wouldn’t say that. She threw them at the wall and said to tell you to go to hell.” Zara chuckles as she picks up her laptop and heads for the door. “I need to verify the camera update. Good luck with her. She’s a handful.”
For several minutes, I stand within the penthouse, straining to hear Isla’s pointe shoes. But the silence drives me stir-crazy, and my nerves unravel. I finally go to her room and throw the door open, taking a different approach with her this time.
“Dance,” I order.
“Go to hell,” Isla repeats without even turning to look at me. Although she looks away, I see her eyes reflected in the windowpane.
“What makes you think you can defy me?” I ask, striding toward her and stopping only when my chest is practically against her back. “I brought you your ballet shoes, and now I want to see you dance.”
Isla turns around slowly. The space between us is so tight that I can practically feel her trembling. She’s scared, but trying not to show it.
“Is that how you think this works?” she asks as she glares up at me. “Are you going to force my feet into the shoes and bend my body to move? Because unless you plan to do that, then I refuse. I don’t feel like dancing.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say, keeping my temper at bay. “I think that your body is likely aching to move after being cooped up in this room. You haven’t been able to dance since you got here, and you’re probably used to training for several hours a day.”
She says nothing, but the look in her eyes and the flinch of her muscles tell me I’m right.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll make you a deal,” I offer. “If you dance for me, then you can earn your freedom.”
“What? You’re kidding me, right? Is this some sort of sick trap?”
“No, it’s an offer. Watching ballet helps me calm my nerves. So, if you dance for me, I’ll repay the gesture by allowing you one step closer to getting out of here. Every step you take in your pointe shoes across the penthouse floor will be a step closer to your release. You can think of this place as your new stage for now, and your dancing will be your way out.”
She thinks about it for a second, staring at me with skepticism as she weighs her options before conceding.
“Fine,” she says angrily. “Wait out there.”
Isla gestures toward the door, crosses the room, and collects her shoes. She stands there holding them in her hand as she waits for me to leave the room.
After a short time of sitting on the leather couch in the sprawling living room and waiting for her, Isla emerges and stands in front of me in her pointe shoes with the ribbons wrapped high around her ankles.
“I need music.”
I turn on the penthouse’s sound system, and the room fills with the sound of Charles Gounod’s classical opera.
Isla raises a brow at me in a sort of angry amusement. “Faust, really? I suppose that’s a fitting piece for the Devil to listen to.”
I give her a small smirk, and then she dances. But Isla doesn’t just move across the floor. She dances furiously, defiantly—passionately. Instantly and almost against my will, she captivates me completely. I’m entranced as I sit there watching her every movement.
My eyes follow each curve of her body. I want to run my hands over the smooth lines of her form. Her languid figure glides across the floor with such grace that I can barely hear the wooden blocks of the shoes beneath her. The longer that I watch her dance, the more enraptured I become. I not only forget about the memories that had been plaguing me, but I also forget about everything else. It’s as if the entire city, the world, and my whole empire have dropped at this woman’s feet. And I realize that things have suddenly just changed. Isla Hart is no longer just a witness or a problem to be dealt with. She’s no longer just a pawn or a problem for me to handle. She’s becoming an obsession that threatens to be my undoing.
“Stop,” I say, as I reach to turn off the music abruptly.
She freezes in place before letting herself down off her toes to stand and stare at me.