Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
“How would we ... make those kids?” Ella asked. She felt like she was in a dream, but each time she kept pinching her arm, she wouldn’t wake up.
“The old-fashioned way. We can come to a deal with this arrangement, but after that, everything would be real. You will be my wife, I will be your husband, we will have children and a family. Together, we can give each other what we want.”
“And this is not a joke?”
“I wouldn’t joke around about something as serious as this.”
She couldn’t recall ever seeing him joke around about anything. She ran fingers through her hair. Trying to get to work on time in the busy traffic, she had forgotten to pin back her hair.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“I can give you a week. The priest will hold everything until then, but as soon as you make the decision, I can make this happen.”
Ella nodded. “I’m going to get to work.”
“I won’t hurt you, if that is what you’re worried about,” Mateo said.
She turned to look at him, and the truth was, she didn’t have any words. Moving on autopilot, she went to her locker, put her bag and jacket inside, and then grabbed her apron. Her hair was getting in the way, and she kept pushing it back over her shoulder.
Thankfully, it was Friday night at Cole’s, so that meant she was not going to have a chance to think about the proposition. She didn’t know if she was happy about that. Becoming Mateo Cole’s wife was a crazy idea. She knew he was a dangerous man. He was the head of the freaking mafia.
He tended to spend a lot of time at this very bar, but she heard the rumors. He ran a tight ship. He ran things differently compared to his father and the original capos. He was also feared and respected. Men were terrified of him. Women loved him. And he was willing to create a family with her. A nobody—someone who didn’t have any mafia genetics in her veins. Someone who had spent her whole life not being good enough.
Had she woken up in an alternative universe?
****
One Week Later
Mateo loved that Ella continued to come to work while also not giving him a response. She took the whole week, and the next Friday night, after work, he stepped out of his office just as she finished cleaning up the main floor, and everyone was gone.
She turned to look at him, and he didn’t say a word. She pushed some of her hair off her forehead, and she nodded.
“I have some conditions,” she said.
He folded his arms across his chest. This, he was not expecting. Most women liked having his attention and would fall all over themselves just to get to him. He looked at her and waited.
She took a deep breath.
“I don’t want you to cheat on me, or have a mistress. If you want to be with another woman, then you have to tell me about it, and we’ll come to some amicable arrangement after that.”
“Fine,” he said. He had no interest in cheating on her.
Ella’s mouth dropped open and then she quickly closed it. “Holidays are important and I want you to be part of them.”
“Done,” he said.
“If you hurt me in any way, I’m free to walk away. If you beat me, you revoke all rights to your children, and I get them all to myself.”
This one did surprise him.
“I will never hurt you or harm our children, but if that is what you need to feel safe, consider it done.”
Ella nodded. “Then, I would like to ... agree to your proposal.”
Mateo smiled. “Come here.”
Her hands clenched into fists, and she looked so freaking nervous and cute.
She was within touching distance, and he reached out, taking a strand of her hair and running it through his fingers. “Do you want to sign the deal with a kiss or a handshake?”
Her cheeks were the most delightful shade of red.
“Ella, you do know that we’re going to be making kids the good old-fashioned way. I won’t be going to any clinic and putting my seed in a cup,” he said.
“Then I guess we seal this deal with a kiss.”
“You’re nervous?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Why? I promised I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I have ... never kissed a guy.”
This made him pause. “What?”
“I haven’t kissed a guy before.”
“But you have gone on dates?”
She shrugged. “It didn’t exactly end with a kiss. I was not going to kiss any random guy. It’s probably why there was never a second date.” She winced. “I should probably also mention that I’m ... not experienced.”
He had no idea she could get any redder.
“Experienced?”
“I’m a virgin,” she said.
How the ever-loving fuck had he hit the jackpot? He didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky, but he had, and he couldn’t believe it.