Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Are you willing to bet on that?” I ask.
“Get off me.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Bastian says from a few feet away. “I’ll put my money on yes. She’s turned on.”
“I’m not. Let me go.”
“Why would we do that? Where would be the fun in letting you go, little Dandelion?” Bastian says.
“Stop calling me that.”
“Back to the question at hand. Are you willing to bet that you’re not turned on?” I ask.
“I tell you what, let’s just see,” Bastian says. “If she’s not turned on, we stop now. But if she is, well, she may just need some encouragement. Maybe she’s just shy,” he says to me.
“Maybe,” I taunt.
“I’m not shy. Let me go.”
“We can discuss this for days, but there’s really only one way to know for sure,” I say. “I’ll just have a little look, and we can put this to rest.”
“What?” she asks, panicked.
I drag my free hand up along her inner thigh, under her dress, and over the crotch of her panties.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demands to know.
“Aroused or not? You want to tell me, or you want me to see for myself?”
“I get the feeling she wants you to see for yourself,” Bastian says, clearly enjoying this.
I move my finger over the outside of her panties and feel how her clit has swollen. Feel her dampness.
“This can’t be happening,” she says.
Bastian leans against the wall. “Maybe give her some incentive to come clean.”
“Good idea,” I say. “You admit it, and I’ll make you come. Right here, right now.”
“I don’t want to come!”
“Everyone wants to come, sweetheart. It’s what makes the world go around.” This isn’t how I expected tonight to go, but like I told Bruno earlier, I’m flexible. “Just a quick look it is, then…” I trail off and slip my fingers inside the crotch of her panties only to hear her whimper as I circle her clit and watch her bright, disbelieving eyes. “Oh, little Dandelion.” I cluck my tongue, rubbing her clit until her mouth falls open, her breathing coming in gasps. “Brother.” I don’t shift my gaze from her. “Are you seeing this?”
“Can’t look away.”
“You like that, Dandelion? Like my fingers on you?”
“I…” She swallows hard. “No.”
“No?” I draw my fingers out and bring them to my nose. I inhale, then lick them, tasting her. “You are definitely wet. There is no denying it. But if it makes you feel better, I’m hard for you too,” I tell her, pressing myself against her.
“Get the hell away from me.”
I smear my fingers over her lips, then release her. Walking back to my desk, I pick up my whiskey and drink a long swallow.
“Let me ask you another question.”
“I’m not answering any of your fucking questions.”
“This one is about your brother.” I turn back to find her still standing where I left her, still looking shell-shocked. My brother leans against the wall a few feet from her, arms folded, eyes dark on her.
“Do you love him?” he asks.
True to her word, she doesn’t answer.
“More importantly, does he love you?” he probes.
She blinks, clearly confused by where this is going.
“Or your baby sister?”
“Emma?” she asks, her expression changing.
And I know my way in.
“Sit down and finish your drink. We have a proposition for you.”
10
Vittoria
I’m not sure what the hell just happened, but at the mention of Emma, I cross the room on shaky legs and sit. Honestly, I could use the drink because what the fuck was that? And how can he just walk away so unaffected? Casual and cool like this is a normal day, a normal thing.
Bastian comes to sit beside me on the sofa but keeps some distance between us.
“How old is Emma? About five?” Amadeo asks.
I nod.
“You love her. Is that right?”
“Of course, I do. Is she okay? Did something happen to her?”
He shrugs. “As far as we know, she’s fine.”
I exhale, swallow the rest of my whiskey, and bite my lip, but my relief is short-lived.
“For now,” Bastian adds.
I feel the blood drain from my face. “You can’t hurt her. She’s a child.”
“We wouldn’t hurt a child. Ever,” Amadeo says almost angrily.
“Then I don’t understand.”
“How safe is she in that house? How safe was she with your father?” Bastian asks.
I turn to him, confused. It’s hard to keep up with their questions, and I wonder how they know so much.
“She was in the car when your mother was killed, wasn’t she?”
I don’t have to answer. Anyone with access to public records would know that.
“Was she supposed to survive?” Amadeo asks, no joking in his tone.
“What does that mean?” My stomach turns.
They watch me so closely I feel like a caged animal. I am that, aren’t I? “Do you want her out of your brother’s control or not?”
“Don’t play with me. Not about this. Tell me what you want and what it has to do with my sister.”