Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
The girls exchange worried looks, and I can tell they feel guilty about what I've just requested. Wordlessly, six of them walk out of the room and we're only left with two.
"Virgins," Saul says with approval. "I should have thought of that myself. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourselves?"
"There is no point," I hiss. "Neither of them look the part."
Saul shoos the last two girls out of the room. I restlessly sit up on the couch, pulling myself to my feet and pacing the room.
"This isn't helping. I know you're trying to do what's best for me. But nothing except for finding Tallulah will put me back in the place I was before. I have no business with these girls. I want nothing to do with them. I can't even imagine touching someone else."
"Well, that's a new problem for you," Saul smirks. "You never used to have a problem with bringing girls home."
"Not before Tallulah got old enough," I say. "I don't know why, but if I touch any of them it feels like a betrayal to her, and that's not something I want to do."
"Why not?" Saul demands. "She's betrayed you in the worst possible way. She's done everything in her power to fuck you over and even more than that. She tried to kill you for fuck's sake. Why are you still giving her opportunities when she should be locked up in a cage somewhere suffering for all the crimes she's committed against the Scorpion cartel?"
"You know it's more complicated than that," I say.
"No, it's not, and it shouldn't be."
Saul's face has grown darker and I can tell he's pissed off about my actions. But there's nothing to be done about it. He's below me in the hierarchy of the Scorpion cartel and I'm not going to let him dictate my life.
"You declined ten girls just now. Do you think Tallulah is turning down the men who come up to her asking for her attention?" Saul asks, pissing me off so much I walk up closer to him, glaring.
"Don't you talk about her like that," I hiss. "I know she's going to stay faithful to me."
"I don't think so." Saul smirks. "I think she was intent on killing you from the moment she stepped inside the mansion. I don't think she had any intention to be with you, ever. Her parents must have trained her, taught her how to kill you. And ingrain this idea into her head that you were the bad guy, the villain of the story."
"I may be the villain. But that doesn't mean I don't deserve my happy ending."
"Ever read a fairy tale? I don't need to tell you how those stories and for the villain, do I?"
"That doesn't matter. If you have enough money and enough power, you can influence every step of your life's journey. And I don't have to follow anything other than my own rules, and my rules say Tallulah needs to be back here where she belongs."
Saul seems to be getting more and more frustrated by everything I'm saying. I can tell by the vein throbbing on his forehead, forever reminding me that I'm causing trouble not just to myself, but to my subordinates as well. And this is something I can't afford. I can't afford these men to think of me as anything other than the ruthless, merciless killer I am.
"I could get some more girls," he suggests. "I could sweep this whole club and find someone who looks just like-"
I interrupt him, throwing a hand up and he shuts up, thankfully.
"Don't you see it?" I hiss. "No one's ever going to be good enough. No one's ever going to compare to her. And I'm sick of trying to find someone who's going to fill a hole, but just partly. I'll still be left gaping open and broken. There's nothing you can do to help me. You should be focusing on finding Tallulah, not this stupid search for some other girl who's going to take her place. That's never going to happen."
"Why the fuck are you so obsessed with her?" Saul grabs me by the lapels of my jacket, and I try to shake him off, but his grip is firm and he isn't letting go.
"Get your fucking hands off me," I tell him, but he pays no notice to my warning. "Don't make me lose my shit right now. You won't like me as much when I lose my cool."
"I've seen you lose your cool," Saul says. "I've seen you lose it plenty of times and most of it was connected to that wretched girl. But now I'm done with this shit. I'm done waiting for her, and you should be too. There are so many other women who could take her spot."