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)
If it had been any other woman, he would have suspected that their encounter had been engineered on purpose. But this was Serenity Raleigh, and there was something so dignified about the fourteen-year-old girl-slash-woman that made him dismiss any such notion.
If this girl were to do something intentional, then it would only be to avoid him.
When he stepped off the escalator and came to stand in front of her, the girl said politely, “Sir.”
“Willem.” His voice was just as polite, and he only corrected Serenity to tease her.
Her blonde brows furrowed, but even with the frown marring her smooth pale forehead, it failed to detract from her loveliness, and he marveled absently at how lovely she was.
She would be quite the heartbreaker when she grew up, Willem thought, but not in the way Shane was. No, her older sister’s beauty was more glamorous, the type to dazzle. Serenity’s looks, on the other hand, were softer and...kinder, the type that soothed, despite her lips never curving in a smile.
The realization made Willem grim, reminding him of what he had learned about the child’s past.
“Do you visit the ODA often?” he heard himself ask, referring to the central library by its name and testing to see if she would understand. He wasn’t certain why it mattered to him, only that it did. He wanted to be sure Serenity had properly adjusted to her new life.
“It’s my favorite place in the city.”
“And Mokum in general? How do you find it?”
“Peaceful. It’s nothing like the city I grew up in.”
Her recognition of Amsterdam’s colloquial name allowed Willem to relax.
If the news reports had been right, then she would have only been living in Amsterdam with her stepmother and Shane for over six months. A sufficient length of time for most people to adjust, Willem knew, but for someone who had to recover from the trauma of having one’s parent kill himself in her presence, even forever might not be enough to make one forget.
“Have you fully explored Amsterdam?”
Shane’s sister shook her head. “I like savoring every discovery.”
An unusual answer for a fourteen-year-old, Willem thought, but then again Serenity Raleigh was anything but ordinary.
“You walk often?”
“Sometimes. Other times, I take my bike.”
“I see.” Although it was a well-known fact that there were more bikes than people in Amsterdam, most women Willem was acquainted with considered biking beneath them and instead preferred traveling in chauffeured cars.
“And you, sir?” the girl was asking him.
He was puzzled. “What about me?”
“What brings you here to the ODA?”
“I was invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony as the representative of the royal side of the family.” He waited for her to ask more about his royal relatives, and she soon granted half of his wish.
“May I go now, sir?” She had indeed asked a question, but not the one he was expecting.
“Yes, of course.” He suppressed a smile, thinking ruefully how good this girl would be at keeping him humble. “I didn’t mean to keep you.” It seemed he was fated to say those words over and over, and the worst thing about it was how a part of him wanted to do just that.
Keep her, so she wouldn’t come to harm.
“Have a nice day, sir.”
“You, too.”
He watched her walk away, her long blonde locks neatly interlaced in a single plait, her back straight, her stride crooked as she...limped.
Willem’s gaze narrowed, but as he continued watching her, he had to accept the truth that he wasn’t seeing wrong.
She was limping.
“SERENITY.”
She heard the Dutch billionaire call her name and forced herself to stop even though all she wanted to do was run away. There was something about the way he said her name she didn’t like, and when her sister’s rumored boyfriend came to stand in front of her again, she realized what it was.
She saw it in his eyes, which were too uncannily like hers.
She saw it in the grim set of his face, which seemed too handsome for someone who had all the money in the world.
And, most of all, she saw it in the way he immediately shoved his hands deep in his trousers’ pockets as he came close to her.
Pity.
She had a feeling he pitied her for all the right reasons. Someone like Willem de Konigh wouldn’t have trouble uncovering the truth about her, never mind if the media’s interest in Daniel Raleigh’s orphaned daughter had long disappeared.
What Willem de Konigh wanted, Serenity had a feeling the Dutch billionaire never had any trouble acquiring.
But if what he wanted was someone who would welcome his pity, then he would certainly have his first taste of disappointment
When the billionaire reached her, Serenity said quietly, “I won’t always be limping like this.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t quite the truth either. The doctors had told her that the limp would lessen, gradually, but it would never go away.