Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
In front of them, Melanie was futilely trying to quiet Shane, who insisted on talking about the length of Willem’s cock.
Tears burned Serenity’s eyes, and she tried harder to pull her hand away. She needed to go. She just needed to go.
But the billionaire wouldn’t let her.
His hold was unbreakable.
Don’t go.
His thumb slowly moved across her knuckles.
I’m sorry.
Back and forth his thumb moved, an apology for every stroke, mending and breaking her heart at the same time.
Oh, how she still loved him, and it hurt.
Dimly, she heard Melanie struggling to get Shane up and Willem ordering a pair of his bodyguards to help her stepmother. Poor Shane, she thought dully, drunk on a night that Willem might have begun thinking of proposing to her.
Because that was what this was about, wasn’t it? For all she knew, that might have been why the billionaire had been unable to return her feelings. It wasn’t because he didn’t love Serenity. Maybe it was because he was already in love with Shane.
As soon as Melanie managed to usher Shane out of the dining room, Willem nodded at the rest of his security team in dismissal. “Guard the door and let me know in advance if either or both of them are about to return.”
“Ja, meneer.”
His bodyguards filed out of the room, and only when they were completely alone did Willem allow himself to glance at the girl beside him. She was absolutely still in her seat, her face pale, her back straight, and her eyes resolutely focused on the wall opposite them.
“Serenity.”
She didn’t look at him.
“Say something.” His tone was as harsh and tight as his grip on her hand under the table. He knew he should let her go now...but he could not.
But still, she was silent.
Cursing silently, Willem released her hand to cup her face and forcibly make Serenity look at him.
Their eyes clashed, and this time he cursed out loud. The pain in her blue gaze was too much, and even as he hated her for making him feel he was in the wrong when he was not, he hated himself more for even caring.
“You can’t blame me for something that happened before I met you,” Willem heard himself snarl.
But still, she didn’t speak.
“You were a child then,” he said harshly. “A fourteen-year-old child! How the fuck would I have known that you’d grow up to—-” He didn’t allow himself to continue and, cursing again, he released his hold on her face.
“I never lied about Shane and me,” he bit out.
She only stared at him in answer, and just when he thought she would keep giving him the cold shoulder, he heard her say, “I know that.” Her voice was low but tremulous, and her face seemed to have whitened even more.
“I’ve always known it,” Serenity whispered. “But it doesn’t make it hurt less.” And as soon as she uttered the words, she knew then. The hurt wouldn’t go away for as long as she could see Willem.
She jerked to her feet, muttering under her breath, “I have to go.”
Willem stood up abruptly as well. “Where are you going?”
She didn’t answer, only turning around to walk away, but the billionaire swiftly held her back, his fingers wrapping tightly around one wrist.
“Let me go.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke.
His grip tightened. “We need to talk.”
She shook her head vehemently. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There’s everything—-”
She whirled around, crying out, “I just want to forget you, okay?” She no longer cared if Melanie or Shane could hear her. She no longer cared about lying. She just wanted things to be over so it would stop hurting.
“I want to move on.” She was hysterical in her pain, and she could no longer stop herself from talking. “I want to forget I ever fell in love with a heartless bastard like you.”
A muscle started ticking in his jaw.
“I want to start fresh, find someone else—-”
Willem’s blue eyes turned icy.
If Serenity had been in her right mind, she would have known what that gaze meant. But she wasn’t.
“Someone who will welcome my love and kiss me back—-”
Willem heard nothing else.
He only had to hear Serenity talk about another man kissing her, and his vision had gone completely black.
He hauled her to him, and as she stumbled against his chest with a shocked gasp, he drove his fingers through her hair, gripped her head back, and slammed his mouth down on hers.
“If you ever dare kiss someone else,” he rasped against her lips, “I’ll probably strangle you.”
Her eyes were wide on his as he spoke, and when she parted her lips to answer him, Willem didn’t give her a chance to say a single word by driving his tongue deep into her mouth.
Passion exploded between them, and a shudder racked his body as he heard Serenity whimper in a mixture of shock and confusion.