Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Did my little sneaky thing come after me that night knowing who I was? Or did she run when she realized the truth?
Chapter Nine
Elizabeth
“You.” One word, and my heart thudded against my chest. He stood there in a three-piece suit with the jacket unbuttoned, looking devilishly handsome. Had he been flirting with Ava before we arrived? No, she said she hated her boss and he’d been a real asshole lately. He didn’t take his eyes off me, and I hesitated. The fear that the anger was for me sent me running.
This morning nearly sent me into a panic. Diego Hernandez was the man I’d gone to bed with. He supposedly owned a large tow trucking company and a few other businesses. I hadn’t seen his face before or anything, but I’d known that wasn’t his main source of income. The man was a mobster. He had his hands in guns and illegal gambling. The man held debts and secrets that could bury the city’s most important men. I gave my innocence to him.
I ran away again for the second time, but from the look in his eyes, he’d only let me go for the moment. There was no telling what he’d do if we met again, and something told me we would.
I hid away the rest of the day, ignoring the way my belly flipped as I thought about the way he stared at me. Those powerful gray eyes focused on me with so much left unsaid. I had to run again. Maybe it was cowardly, or maybe it was self-preservation, but someone like him had control, power, and money on his side. Of course, it wasn’t those things that frightened me; it was the fact that he sent my blood racing and desire pumping through my veins, a greedy lust I didn’t know I could possess.
My mother and father had been consumed by different forms of greed, whereas I had avoided them whenever possible. My car was flashy because my boss bought it, since I sometimes drove him around. My apartment was a luxury of safety and comfort after a life of living in poverty after my parents used up all their money. I was never their priority.
My mother divorced my father after he gambled away their savings. Instead of taking me with her, she left with her boss. I hadn’t seen her since. My father dumped me with my grandmother, who raised me until I left for college. I was ten.
My father went to prison when I was seventeen for attempted murder and burglary. He was lucky the man survived, or it would have been worse, but from what I heard, he had a bad time in prison. He messed with the wrong people, and he was probably going to get killed. He only reached out to me three times; each time he asked for money. When I refused because I was broke, he told me I was dead to him. Of course, he’d try again. The last time I was barely twenty, I said I’d never give him a dime.
My grandmother argued with him when he wanted to introduce me to some of his friends. A dreaded sick feeling sat in the pit of my stomach after that, and I avoided the man at all costs. I knew exactly what he was thinking. I’d been accepted into college by the time he was sentenced. Mercifully, my school counselor helped me get away before my father dragged me into the same hole he’d been in.
My parents' actions, for however fucked up they were, taught me a valuable lesson: work hard and never get addicted.
Unfortunately, I felt as if I was failing miserably. I’d given myself to a mobster without the slightest bit of hesitation. Even though it was smart to run from him, I wanted to run back into his arms and beg him to forgive me for leaving that morning.
Unable to calm myself down, I stripped down and took a hot bath. I had to decompress, and it always did the trick. As the bath relaxed my tense muscles, I closed my eyes and imagined Diego with his hands over my body. First, he’d grab me by the throat and demand that I apologize for leaving him and order me to never do it again. “Say it, beautiful. Say it.”
“I’ll never leave,” I moaned as I gripped the edge of the claw-footed bathtub and lay my head back. My thoughts continued their filthy journey to a place where only Diego and I remained. I needed my special toy to take me where I had to go, so I wrapped myself in a towel and pulled it out of the bathroom cabinet drawer.
My heart raced as I imagined Diego finding me and taking me all over again. He’d have to punish me for running away. My body heated so much that the water in the tub was the only thing that could cool me down. I dropped the towel on the floor next to the tub and then slipped back onto the edge, letting my legs soak while I began to play.