To Hold by Alessandra Torre Read Free Book Online Page B

Street and city names float through my head as my fingers move, until my index finger comes to a slow, shuddering stop on Nathan’s house.
    There. I feel it again. That wisp of thought. I still, trying not to pounce too aggressively on it, trying to let it wander into the light unafraid. Unease grows in me, the thought growing legs and arms and starting a hesitant crawl through my mind. I picture Nathan, stepping into the dimly lit dump that is the Palace. Rick’s excited announcement that I was wanted in VIP. Nathan walking into the Palace. My eyes flit from his house, over two healthy cities and one small town, over a hundred and fifty miles, and land on the Crystal Palace. Twenty miles on the other side of the small town. My eyes move in the opposite direction, calculating the cities and towns within that circumference from Nathan’s house. At least six. Containing at least ten strip clubs. Ten strip clubs that were closer than the rundown establishment that he, Drew, and Mark walked into.
    So why the Palace? And why, five minutes after stepping foot inside, did he ask for me?

CHAPTER 14
    Word: 6 letters
    Clue: _______ and thank you
    C onfinement. It doesn’t necessarily require a limited space. Confinement can be a mind fuck of restraint, a person stopped in every direction of action until they stand still in a room, afraid to move. Confinement can do strange things to a person.
    Maybe that is what caused the snap. Maybe it was the two of us, both in prisons of Nathan, both desperately wanting a way out, wanting the freedom that is being withheld. I know why I am captive, my father laying three defenseless hours away. But what holds Drew? Why does he stay? Why does he live in this house, follow Nathan’s rules, and assist in my prison?
    Confinement can drive a sane person insane. I have seen a chink in Drew’s armor. He is human, he can err, and he can make mistakes. He made a mistake in touching me, in giving a drowning, lonely girl hope. Hope and an opening.

    I stare out the window of the limo, my legs demurely crossed, like I have been taught, my hands clasping my crocodile clutch. I am trying to avoid looking forward to the front of the car, where I know Drew’s eyes will be. Watching me. The car rides have become a source of stress for me, constant worry present that Nathan will want to be serviced. Tonight, at least, I am safe. We have spent all evening with Raul, a foreign investor who Nathan is courting. I don’t know much except that Nathan has gone above and beyond with this man, our dinner stretching over three hours, the men already spending all day together at the casinos. They are drunk, their speech carrying a hint of slur, their ties loosened and spirits boisterous. Nathan sits back, and I suddenly feel his arm around my shoulders. I turn slightly to him, giving him what he wants, a loving smile, full of adoration. It is a smile I have perfected, and one he loves.
    “Did you know that Raul wanted me to find him a whore?” He enunciates the words clearly, the slur masked by his precise pronunciation. I stiffen slightly under his arm, narrowing my eyes slightly at him as I blush appropriately, slapping his knee.
    “Nathan!” I chastise him, shooting him a look that is properly offended.
    “It’s true,” he murmurs, bending his head to plant a soft kiss on my neck. “But I told him there is no need to waste money on a whore. Not when my wife is such an excellent fuck.”
    My world closes around his words, my eyes catching his, the look in his eyes unmistakable. I beg him with my own, my mouth moving, light-hearted words coming out. “What? Nathan — stop. You’re embarrassing me in front of our guest!”
    We fight while smiling, his eyes demanding while mine beg. This is something I can’t do. Fucking me in front of the staff is one thing. Offering me to a stranger something else. He tilts his head, amusement mixing with the authority in his eyes. His mouth curls, a grin stretching over