Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
He wore black pants, a shiny black belt, and a black fur coat, but no shoes or shirt. My breath stuttered in my chest as he moved closer. His body was ripped, with a six-pack that made my mouth water embarrassingly, but my eyes began to linger on the many scars and worst of all, the brand in the shape of an L over his sternum that my father had burned into Nestore as a sign of his ownership.
Nestore stopped in front of me, his eyes taking me in from head to toe. “The dress fits you perfectly.”
“Why white?”
He brushed his fingertips across my cheek like a ghost touch. “Because you spent too much time in darkness, and because being bound to me, part of your life will always be shrouded in shadows.”
I sighed. I wanted to argue with him that it didn’t have to be like that. He, too, could step out of the shadows, but I knew he didn’t want to hear it, and worse, I wasn’t entirely sure if it was true. “Why didn’t you have my father’s brand removed?”
Nestore’s eyes flared with pain, then he peered down at the L on his chest. “Because, Amelia, it no longer stands for your father’s ownership of me. You put your brand on my heart, so that’s why the L shall remain.”
I swallowed my rising emotions. When he said things like that, I wanted to believe his plans for me were only kind, but the flickers of menace in his eyes told me a war was raging in his body. I reached for the burn scar, but Nestore caught my wrist before my fingertips could touch his skin. “If we marry, I won’t be a Lamorgese for much longer.”
His smirk came quickly. “When, not if. And by blood, you’ll always be a Lamorgese even when my last name is yours.”
“Did you kill him?” I asked quietly. In the past two years, I had sometimes wondered about my father’s fate—not out of love or pity but simply because I wanted that chapter of my life to be over for good.
He stepped back, and his jaw clenched, eyes turning cold. He motioned for me to go ahead. “You must be hungry. Tonight, we’ll have entertainment, so I want you well-fed and fit.”
“What kind of entertainment?” I whispered. Something about his eager undertone set my teeth on edge.
“Wait and see.”
Nestore picked me up at six sharp from my room. I had prepared myself for the moment I’d open the door to Nestore’s harsh face, but I couldn’t prepare myself for what I saw on his head. A crown made from human fingers topped his head.
My fingers around the door handle tightened as I fought for composure. Nestore’s keen gaze locked on my face, waiting for a reaction that I had no intention of giving him. I wouldn’t become part of his game.
He scanned me from head to toe. “I knew you’d be gorgeous in white.”
I wore the long dress because the evenings were cold, and it turned out to be a good choice when Nestore led me out into the gardens. The sweet, floral scent of millions of blooming roses carried over to me as we strolled along the paved path, even before we reached the trellises or the maze. Nestore held my hand in a tight grip as he pulled me along. He refused to tell me what kind of spectacle awaited us. My skin crawled when I considered the options.
We walked past the maze to the farthest part of the premises, where the sports center used to be.
Nestore had removed the tennis courts and built a wide circular building in their place. It was only one story tall and windowless. Inside, electric torches illuminated the rotunda. Two staircases led to the stories below. Noise came from this area, an erratic and excited roar of male voices. What was going on?
Nestore took my hand and led me down the staircase. I kept staring at the crown made from bones on his head. Part of me hoped it wasn’t real bone, or at least not human bone. I wasn’t an expert, so maybe it was something else. It reminded me of an array of entwined sprigs, and I decided to think of it as exactly that: sprigs. I needed to forget the truth.
When we emerged from the stairwell, my lips dropped open in surprise. The room resembled a miniature amphitheater. The ranks were crowded with men who fell silent when Nestore and I stepped out. Every eye followed us as Nestore pulled me toward a loge with a perfect view of the circular pit below.
The moment Nestore sat down, a man stepped into the pit. He was thick around the middle with broad shoulders and a thinning hairline. His heavy-lidded eyes carried the look of someone who had seen too much. “Tonight, we have a special treat. A rat gets its chance to evade death by surviving five minutes in a cage with Drago. Put your bets in. The fight begins in one minute.”