Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
She didn’t think anyone noticed her.
He did.
Every time he watched her leave a room it had always been on the tip of his tongue to make her stay because he knew he could. Being one of the most feared men in the world helped with that.
Tessa feared him. He saw it in the way her eyes would often go wide when he entered a room. Her hands always shook as well.
There’s no way he’d hurt her though.
Not after he heard the pain in her voice at losing her father.
He was many things, but hurting her like that, he couldn’t do.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He smiled. “You don’t need to be sorry either.”
“I don’t understand what you want.”
“I want you to relax.”
“Mr. Zanetti, I work for you.”
“Call me Alonzo.”
“I can’t,” she said.
“Why not?”
“That’s disrespectful.”
“Only if I demand you call me that and you insist on not. I wish for you to call me Alonzo.”
He watched her teeth sink into her bottom lip. He’d give anything to taste her sweet lips. They looked so soft, so inviting.
His cock started to stir as he imagined those lips wrapped around it, taking him to the back of her throat.
She was a good girl. Two years without leaving his home, and before then, her father would always brag about her being a special girl.
He wanted a taste.
Craved her in ways he really shouldn’t.
He wasn’t a good man.
He wanted to make her dirty, to fuck her raw, and to make her beg. When it came to Tessa, it seemed his … obsession knew no bounds. He had her followed everywhere she went, not just for her own safety, for himself. There was also a guard at the house who he employed just for her.
Again, she didn’t know it, and few of his men were aware of it.
He didn’t allow everyone to know his business.
Tessa wasn’t just some random whore he liked to use. She meant more to him, and he wouldn’t dream of putting her life in danger.
“Come on, Tessa, give it a try. Let me hear my name from your lips.”
He hoped she’d argue. Instead, she took a deep breath and said his name so softly that at first he didn’t think he heard it.
“Again,” he said.
“Alonzo.”
Damn. Her voice sounded so good. He’d gladly listen to her all day long.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
She shook her head.
“Good, from now on, at the end of the day, I want you to come here.”
“What?” she asked, the frown back in full force.
“You heard me.”
“I don’t understand what I’ve done wrong, sir.”
“I like that coming from your lips.” He winked at her. “You’ve done nothing wrong, but at the end of each day, I want you here so I can see you. I want to know what you’re doing and how your day has gone.”
“Is this what you do with Michele?” she asked, with no hint of jealousy in her voice.
“No, this is something special for you.”
Chapter Two
The following day, after tucking Caesar into bed, Tessa put the baby monitor in her pocket and debated if she should just go to her room. She didn’t live in any of the large wings in the house. There was part of the house in the back that was a lot smaller, for the people Alonzo employed who stayed on overnight to sleep.
She loved her room for a lot of reasons, and right now, she would give anything to go back there.
Alonzo wasn’t known for his patience, and she worried if she pushed him too hard, he’d push back and it would end up hurting a lot more for her, and she was afraid of that.
Nibbling her lip, she tried not to think about everything bad that could happen to her, and just walked toward the library. The door was closed. She couldn’t just walk into the room.
As she raised her fist, all of her survival instincts were telling her to run, to get the hell out of there.
Instead, she knocked and waited.
“Come in,” he said.
She wished he’d not been there.
Opening the door, she stepped inside.
He sat on the same sofa, a glass of whiskey in his hand, as that was the only drink he ever had, and paperwork on his knee.
“I thought I’d have to send either Cole or Demetri to find you,” he said.
“You told me to come, and I didn’t get a notice that you changed your mind.” She didn’t exactly need to tell him the obvious, but she didn’t have anything else to say.
“Take a seat. What would you like? Whiskey? Wine? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?”
“Erm, hot chocolate please.”
He chuckled. “I figured.” He got up from his seat, and she watched him walk toward the desk. “Yes, bring that hot chocolate order now, please. Marshmallows?” Alonzo asked.
“Huh?”
“Do you want marshmallows?”
“Oh, no, that’s fine. I don’t like them.”
He gave the order and put the phone down. “Who doesn’t like marshmallows?”