Ruthless Monarch - A Billionaire Enemies-to-Lovers Romance - Ava Harrison Page 0,3
iPad still on my desk.
Pulling it closer to me, I swipe the screen.
What are you hiding, Marino?
I look through the images of the governor. My teeth grind together as I stare at the man who has become a thorn in my side. His dark, soulless eyes stare back at me in each picture. He’s probably in his mid-sixties, the age my father would be if he were still alive, with salt-and-pepper hair and an olive complexion. I imagine women must think him to be a handsome man, regardless of the wrinkles lining his weathered face. Power and money will do that.
I continue my perusal. The next image stops me because in this one, he’s not alone.
He stares back at me, sandwiched between his wife and daughter.
His daughter is the one who gives me pause.
She’s gorgeous.
An exotic beauty with long, dark brown hair that flows in loose waves past her breasts.
She’s different than the women I associate with . . .
I drag my eyes away from her photo to look at the rest of the file.
Twenty-two years old.
Five feet two.
Well educated.
A whole future ahead of her.
Pity.
2
Viviana
* * *
Only one more week left until graduation. I can’t believe the day is almost here.
Once it comes, I’ll finally be able to distance myself.
I’ll find a job.
I will get out from under my father’s thumb.
I just need to make it through one more week.
Not true.
A job. Paying my bills.
A heavy feeling weighs on my chest. I’ll never be able to escape him.
My father will use me as his pawn as he always does. Once I leave school, he’ll keep me in line by making me work for him.
And I have no choice. . .
Maybe one day.
The door to my apartment swings open. I don’t need to look up from my computer to know who it is.
It’s obviously Julia.
She’s the only person—well, besides my parents—who has a key.
“Hey, babe.” I hear her say as the sound of her feet on the floor echoes through the space as she approaches me on the couch.
“Hi.” I lift my gaze from the screen. “Didn’t think you’d be here so early.”
“Umm, you should have expected me earlier.” She rolls her eyes, making me laugh. “We’re going out, remember? It’s pre-gaming time.”
“Pre-gaming. Really, Jules, what am I, still in college?”
“For another week, you are. Don’t rush me. You’re not ready for the real world. I hear there are work and taxes and all kinds of bullshit out there. Please tell me you’re still coming with me tonight and you didn’t forget.” She groans loudly, being her completely overdramatic self.
I stare at her for a moment. When she laughs, she reminds me so much of her mother. They have the same light brown hair and blue eyes, but it’s the way she smiles. It’s the same smile Ana had when she would play with us. When she would move the figurines around the old dollhouse with me.
My heart clenches.
“Viv, where did you go? You’re off in la-la land.” Jules snaps her fingers, pulling me from my memories.
What was she saying? Oh yeah, going out tonight.
“How could I forget? You reminded me every day this week.” I pretend to sulk, but really, I love her.
“Well, we have to celebrate you graduating.”
“I haven’t graduated yet.”
“Semantics.”
I roll my eyes at my friend.
But she is right. Although, technically, I haven’t gotten my diploma yet, I am officially done with school.
This is my last weekend living here, and next week, I will have to tell my father I wasn’t going to be part of his plan for the future.
My father has considered me a bargaining chip for the longest time. I’ve been able to put him off for years by going to college, but my father comes from a traditional Sicilian family. In his mind, I should already be married.
Married to a man he’s picked for me.
It’s just a matter of time before the shoe drops, and he dictates my life.
As crazy as it sounds, I’m expecting a call about my impending doom at any minute.
For some time now, I’ve known that my father will try to marry me off to whoever he thinks will benefit him.
A future I want no part of.
“When do you go back home?” Julia asks as she walks to the kitchen attached to my living room and swings open the fridge. A minute later, Diet Coke in hand, she sits on the couch adjacent from me.
“Hopefully never,” I mumble under my breath.
“Yeah, because Daddy Marino will ever go for that.”