Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Isabella releases a sigh. “Fine,” she concedes after a moment of silence. “We’re going to trust you’re telling us the truth. But if I find out you lied to us, Renata, you’ll beg for death before the end…”
She’d better not be fucking lying.
My voice is a low rumble. “One wrong move, Renata…”
Renata’s shoulders slump in relief, but there’s still a shadow of fear in her eyes. “Thank you. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Trust is so damn fragile in our word. One misstep and all that we built can come crashing down around us.
Isabella turns back to us, her gaze steely. “We’ll release her, but I have conditions. I want her brought back to The Cove, immediately, where we can keep her from any contact with our enemies and make sure she’s safe from any insidious blowback from the men here who believe her to be a traitor.”
Renata nods, and I do believe she looks relieved.
Isabella turns back to us, her expression stern. “Oh, and one more thing.” I look up at her, so damn ready to get back home.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, you two will be married.” Her eyes are as black as obsidian, cold and merciless. “This time, there will be no escape.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Renata
“¡Dios mío!”
Ollie and I stare at each other. He looks as stunned as I am.
“What?” I manage to eke out. “Married?”
“You act as if it isn’t the next perfect step,” Isabella says with a toss of her head. “You, my friend, need to be watched very closely. While there’s no evidence of any lying yet, we all know our suspicion you and our enemies are playing a long game is valid. We can keep you under watch for a time, but do you really want the alternative—to be kept prisoner here in Colombia?”
I stare at her, disbelieving. My whole world has crashed down around me, and I hardly know who I am anymore. I shake my head.
“But I will be a prisoner. A prisoner with a ring and his last name.”
“Yes,” Isabella says, her voice like steel. “A prisoner to the Romanovs. But isn’t that better than being prey to the circling wolves outside this room? And Ollie will keep a much closer eye on you if you’re his wife, I’m sure,” Isabella says with a smirk. “I ought to know.”
Lev winks at her. I stare, still practically frozen in shock. I’m well aware I’m sitting on Ollie’s lap. I’m further aware that he’s hard as fuck, his dick pressing into my ass. I swallow hard.
“If you tell them anything about me at all, I will murder the man you love in front of you.”
Do I still love him?
I look back at Ollie. His bright-green eyes are fixed ahead of me. My heart breaks a little at how devastatingly handsome he is. I half expect the man’s a psychopath based on what I’ve learned about him and seen with my own two eyes, but there’s a rugged sexiness about his quiet aloofness that calls to me. He has a calm, commanding presence, fearlessness, and a predator-like grace that call to me.
I’ve always been attracted to the villains. There’s something about knowing I could tame a beast like him... It’s like my personal challenge, even as his piercing green eyes see right through me.
If I tell him about my brother, Ollie is dead.
I’m a puppet on a string, and my brother holds the string.
“You want me to marry her,” Ollie says, shaking his head.
Lev sighs. “You know you have to be married soon anyway, brother.” He does. He’s the last single man in the Romanov family and has a sworn duty to marry within the year. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.
“It’s the perfect move to solidify the alliance between the Romanovs and the cartel,” Isabella continues. “And if Renata is indeed working with Carlos, this will infuriate him beyond all reason and bring him out of hiding.”
“It’s hard to be in contact with a dead man,” I mutter, but I don’t know if anyone believes me. I don’t even believe me.
A part of me’s so relieved I can hardly breathe. There’s a reason why Carlos believes I’m in love with Ollie.
But I have to protest. “I can’t believe you are doing this to me, Bella. You’re marry me off like I’m cattle. Are you serious?”
Isabella steps over to me. “Deadly serious. This isn’t just about us anymore but the future of the Los Sangre Dorada and the Romanov family. A hundred years from now, we’ll be nothing but rotting bones, but our legacy will live on. This marriage will strengthen our position and force Carlos’s hand… if he’s still here.”
Ollie looks between us, scowling. My God, I half convinced myself I still loved him, but the look of utter disdain he gives me makes me think otherwise.
He will never love me.