Price of Greed E-Book

Angel Rupert

• Herausgeber: Bentockiz
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

He would not be happy with me for not telling him about the events of the preceding few days, but without his input, I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t think I was just overreacting. She was not feeling well, and even though we offered to postpone the meeting, she insisted on continuing as planned. She entered the sitting room leaning heavily on the arm of her husband.

Leseprobe

Title Page

Price of Greed

Passion and Promises

Angel Rupert

Price of Greed / 6th of series: Passion and Promises / By Angel Rupert

Published 2023 by Bentockiz

e-book Imprint: Calkden Norsh

e-book Registration: Stockholm, Sweden

e-book ISBN: 9789198848755

e-book editing: Athens, Greece

Cover Images created via AI art generators

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Introduction

Through books we come into contact with everything important that has happened in the past, analyzing also current events and putting our thoughts together to predict the future. The book is a window to the world, acquiring valuable knowledge and sparking our vivid imagination. It is a means of entertainment and is generally seen as a best friend, or as a slave that carries together all valuable information for us. The book is a friend who stays together without demands, a friend you call upon at every moment and abandon when you want.

It accompanies us in the hours of boredom and loneliness, while at the same time it entertains us. In general, a book does not ask anything from us, while it waits patiently on a dusty shelf to give us its information, to get us out of dead ends and to travel us to magical worlds.

This may be the travel mission of our books. Abstract narration, weird or unconscious thoughts difficult to be understood, but always genuine and full of life experiences, these are stories of life that can’t be overlooked easily.

This may be the start of something amazing!

Chapter One

I desperately tried to control the hysteria I could feel rising up inside of me.

“Allison, be reasonable. I want to do this the right way. No sneaking around.”

James could be very persuasive, especially when he was nibbling on my neck. We were in our favorite place, under the trees near the library, sitting on a blanket he brought with him instead of the jacket he had gallantly laid on the ground for me a couple of weeks previously, and with Christmas only two days away the campus was almost totally deserted. Being unpredictably Texas it was pleasant outside even though it was December.

James was temporarily rooming in the only dorm that stayed open over the holidays, since his mom didn’t have a place for him to stay. He had refused my offer to let him sleep on my couch saying that it wouldn’t be right, plus too much of a temptation, and I was glad he felt that way. I wasn’t offering to sleep with him, as much as I would have liked to, because Hannah’s sense of morality had rubbed off on me and even though, until just recently with James and Elsee, I hadn’t been to church since she died, I knew it would be wrong.

“You’re going to have to trust me on this one, my parents will not be reasonable. They expect me to marry Richard, or someone like him; end of story. You said it yourself, money marries money.” I reminded him pointedly.

“Don’t bring that up please,” James begged.

“As much as I hate to admit it, there was a lot of truth in what you said that night. If it hadn’t been for Hannah, I probably would have turned out exactly like Natalie.”

“They can’t be all that bad, after all, they did have you, right?” more nibbling. “You’re not adopted.”

“They can be that bad, James, please, you have to believe me. You don’t know them. I don’t want you or your mom to get hurt.”

I knew he thought I was overreacting, but I was desperate to convince him to take me seriously. How could I make him understand something so alien to his nature that he could never truly comprehend?

“What are they, the mafia? You are being quite melodramatic today.”

“James, I’ve seen it happen. Why do you think every one of my ‘friends’ are rich and snobby?”

“Because you like ‘em that way?”

“Every time I tried to make friends with someone my parents didn’t approve of something bad happened.”

“I’m sorry, Allison, it’s not that I don’t believe that you believe what you’re telling me,” James offered in an attempt to placate me, “But things like that only happen in books and movies. I’m sure they were coincidences.”

I knew I wasn’t getting through to him. There had to be a way to prove to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wasn’t exaggerating. Think...think...Mrs. Fowlkes, maybe she had something more concrete; after all, she had dumped the firm as soon as my grandfather died and my father took over.

“Will you do me one favor?’

I had already discovered that James had trouble denying me anything I wanted and I would have to be careful not to abuse that tendency in the future, but I had to figure out a way to convince him and I was drawing a blank.

“You know I will.”

“Come with me to talk to Mrs. Fowlkes.”

“You mean Mom’s boss?”

“Yes, she’s known my parents since before I was born. If she thinks it’ll be okay, I’ll do it your way,” I conceded.

“Fair enough,” James agreed. “She seems to be a level headed person.”

“Oh, you are so going to pay for that,” I threatened, jumping on him and knocking him over. He allowed me to pin him to the ground. “I’ll show you level headed.”

Our lips met and there was no more talking for a long time.

“Are you still planning to spend Christmas Day with Mom and me?” James asked anxiously a bit later.

His back was against a tree and he was holding me in his arms. If it were up to me, we would spend all of our time making out, but James was more disciplined than I was, always calling a halt to things before I got out of hand.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I replied dreamily. “This will be my first Christmas as part of a real family.”

James chuckled and teased, “We’d have to elope for that.”

“Let’s go,” I challenged him attempting to get up.

“Come back here,” James said pulling me into his arms again.

“That was a marriage proposal.”

“Okay, let’s say it was; what would your answer be?”

“Yes, yes a thousand times yes.”

“Allison,” he reproached me, “I’m serious. Will you marry me?”

Twisting around so I could look him in the eye, I answered, “You are the man I’ve been waiting for my whole life and I would love to marry you...right now...today; we just can’t tell my parents until after the ceremony.”

“You know I can’t do that,” James protested. “I don’t want to start out on the wrong foot.”