Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
I've spent my life fighting. It numbs the pain and keeps the darkness from consuming me. Then I found her. Sweet and innocent with haunted eyes. She was worth fighting for. I dare her father or the man he wants her to marry to try to take her from me. I found her, and now she's all mine.
Some things are worse than death, and he wanted to save me from them all....
I should fear him. Rich Haven is cut, tattooed, and dangerous. The man is a lethal weapon. Scared is the last thing I feel though, when I'm in his arms. For the first time in my life, I feel safe. A feeling that I'm not accustomed to when it comes to men.
But when her past comes calling, he’ll have to fight to keep her, no matter the cost.
Welcome to Lighthouse Landing, a place filled with brooding heroes and sweetly sassy heroines covered with innocence. All these heroes are fiercely in pursuit of claiming their women and giving them their happily ever afters… and a little extra. *wink*
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
FALLON
I stare at the white dress laid out on the bed. My life is about to change forever. I will be going from one prison to another. My hands shake as I pick up the silky material, knowing I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. My destiny has been set for me.
A girl's wedding day is supposed to be a dream. Mine is going to be a nightmare. One I wouldn’t dare to even try to run from. There’s never a way out. Believe me, I’ve tried. No matter how many times I search for one, I come up empty.
I’ve been sold off. I am nothing more than a piece of property to my family. I should have known, but I believed my own lies for so many years. Convincing myself that I was kept tucked away because my father has a dangerous job. That he didn’t want his enemies to get to me.
That it was better if the world didn’t know about me. Not that I know much about the world either. I’ve tricked myself into believing that my father did everything he did to keep me safe. He even convinced me that at times I needed a firm hand because I wasn’t the brightest, and it would help me learn better, to be better. Manipulation and lies have been such a normal part of my life. But I know better now.
I tense when I hear the lock of the cabin door click. It opens with one of the yacht's staff coming in. “I’m here to help you get into the dress,” the woman says. My stomach drops, my reality sinking in further.
Her face is emotionless. The same way they always are. I often try to be the same. When people know you like something, they can take it away from you. But right now, I am desperate, more so than I have ever been before.
“Please,” I start to plead with her.
“Don’t waste your breath,” she tells me, picking up the dress and waiting. I nod, letting my robe slip off so that she can help me into it. It slips on easily, and she zips it up. It's a bit loose. I stand there waiting for my next order. “Mr. Metzer said you are to ready yourself. He wants your hair down.”
I give another nod before the woman slips out of the room. I wait for the sound of the lock to click back into place, but it doesn't come. I stare at the door for a long minute before I go over and touch the handle. When it turns, all the air leaves my body. They didn’t lock it. A spark of hope tries to wiggle its way in, but I push it down. I need to remain levelheaded.
The door to my room is always locked, wherever I am put. That, for the most part, was at home. Today I was brought to a fancy boat where I am to be married to a man I’ve only met a few times.
One that scares me more than my own father, which is saying a lot. My soon-to-be husband has eyes that are colder and darker than I have ever seen before. There is nothing there when you stare into them. They are completely void of any emotion. A chill runs through me thinking of them.
Slowly, I open the door to peek out, not seeing anyone. What I do see out the window is an endless dark ocean. Then suddenly a light hits the boat, circling around to reveal an island in the distance. I have no clue where I am, but maybe that’s why they haven’t locked the door. There is nowhere for me to go. No escape.
Or is there?
So many thoughts race through my mind. Is this some sort of trick to test me? Maybe some sick joke by my new husband and father to make me feel a little bit of hope before they crush it. I creep from the room down the long corridor to see a set of stairs that lead up. I take them, never losing sight of the lighthouse in the distance. When I reach the deck, I realize we're not moving. They have anchored the boat.
I glance back the way I came and then to the island. How far is it? The water seems calm. The boat is barely rocking, if at all. And most of all, can I swim that far?
When I hear the sound of voices, fear creeps up my throat. I can’t marry that man. I know how this night would end. I’m not sure which is scarier, the ocean or the men on this boat. Knowing I am running out of time, I make my decision. If I stay here and go through with tonight, another part of me will die. There honestly is no other option but for me to try to get away. There is no amount of distance that is too far for freedom.