Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
I can’t do anything but watch and burn inside. When I can tear my eyes away, I look at Soo, who’s also watching the woman. There’s an edge to his gaze. A bite. Not jealousy, but something else. Using my fork, I shuffle the food around my plate and try not to listen to the wet sounds his lips make, nor her breathy sighs in response.
“Celia, go to the door on the right and get us some more wine,” Nic orders.
My feelings are wrapped into a tight ball, stuck tight in my belly, churning and twisting into a painful knot. I shove back from the table to do as he says.
The kitchen is empty as I enter. A few bottles of wine sit on the stainless-steel commercial countertops. All of them open and ready for pouring. I scoop one up and stare at it for a moment. Then take a long drag directly from the mouth of the bottle.
I can’t stay here. Nor can I go back out there and watch him flirt with that woman. I turned down her offer to help me escape. There is still the strong possibility Nic planted her to test me. That this is all one of his sick and twisted games to break me.
Will he be fucking her when I walk back out there?
I shake the image out of my head and walk to the other kitchen door. It’s propped open with a can of vegetables. A nagging at the back of my mind tells me that someone left it open on purpose.
This has to be a test… but what if it’s not?
What if this is my only chance to get away? To finally be free? I wouldn’t have to worry about endangering anyone but myself. If I make a run for it, it’s all on me. Still, I know that if I walk out this door, and he catches me, he’s going to hurt me—badly. That’s one thing he’s made very clear through this entire ordeal. If I don’t follow his orders, he’ll make me regret it. The longer I stand here, the more I gravitate toward walking out that door. My body makes the decision for me, and I know I’ll deal with the punishment, whatever it might be. That’s if he catches me.
I put the wine bottle down on the table and shove open the heavy door and peer out into the alleyway behind. There’s a fence line a few feet away, and on the other end, the fence cuts over into the building, blocking the path. I can’t see the other side without walking out there. The organ in my chest squeezes tightly, and there’s an ache radiating outward with every heavy beat.
The image of his lips sliding over delicate knuckles. His lips on a woman who isn’t me. Those thoughts alone give me the strength to step out into the darkness.
Consequences be damned, I’d be stupid not to try to escape.
18
Nic
The one thing I didn’t expect from this evening was the look of jealousy on Celia’s face the second she saw our lovely dinner guest.
Honestly, Celia’s reaction is the only reason I keep touching Reya. Well, her’s and Soo’s. They were both on edge and tense, neither of them speaking, just glaring between Reya and me before I sent Celia off for wine. It makes me wonder if Reya noticed the tension as well. Most likely, but she’s not dumb enough to say anything.
From what Soo’s said about her, I suspect she has much more going on in her head than it seems from the outside. And she likes for people to see her as simply another bimbo. She doesn’t feign the heat in her gaze. The rare sex worker who enjoys her job makes the package she presents even more fascinating.
Reya focuses on her plate for a moment, and I sit back in my chair, surveying my second-in-command. His jaw is clenched as he watches his spy. He hasn’t touched his food since Celia served it, and he’s been glaring over my shoulder whenever I put my hands on her.
If I didn’t know for a fact Soo has sworn off women completely, I might think he had himself a little crush. But, surely not. A man doesn’t bounce back from his fiancée trying to carve out his heart on his wedding day.
“What do you think, Soo?” I ask, drawing his attention.
He clenches his jaw again and stares through me. “About?”
“Allowing our beautiful friend here to see what else she can learn for us. Maybe keep her on the payroll indefinitely if she turns over some useful little tidbits.”
Soo shrugs, eyes skipping Reya completely as he scans the room for threats. A habit he’s never broken from his days running with the unorganized street gangs of Korea. “You do what you want anyway. I’m sure she’ll be an excellent asset.”