style="font-size:15px;"> How could I have been so stupid?
How could I have failed to notice her true nature?
Yet I had some suspicions!
Was it possible that the beauty of that woman had managed to dazzle me to the point of completely losing my mind, so much so that I became stupid and blind?
Just me who had always boasted of having a sixth sense for scammers and liars.
My God, I could not believe that I had had such a person next to me for eight very long months without noticing anything.
The truth was that I had been too busy wanting to take her to bed and to subdue her rebellious and arrogant temper!
I had been so blinded by her desire and her elusive but provocative way of being close to me that I lost my mind.
I knew that closeness could be dangerous, but it had always been so exciting that it made me hold onto her.
I kept telling myself that I was an idiot, because I had always understood that there was something underhanded about Kendra.
Already from our first meeting, in which she threw herself on the street, getting hit by my car, while the driver was slowly leaving the parking lot, I understood that that accident had been combined.
I got out of the car with the desire to make the person pay for that joke and with the threat ready in case she started talking about complaints or anything else.
But then I saw her.
Her. On the ground. Aching in her knee that she had banged against the nose of the car, and with a skinned arm with which she had protected her face falling on the asphalt.
Despite the situation, I was immediately fascinated by that breathtaking body, wrapped in a skimpy black dress that left nothing to the imagination.
My driver had helped her to get up, while she had insulted him for hitting her.
Then I too went over and asked her if she was okay.
In an instant I found myself a prisoner of her beautiful gray eyes and menacing like a cloudy sky with a storm coming.
With that delicate-featured face of her and that long brown hair that covered her entire bare back, she had made me want to touch her and make her mine.
For this reason, when I proposed to take her to the hospital and she immediately stiffened and frightened, telling me that she was fine despite having a hard time walking, I took the leap and invited her to the hotel where I was staying.
She had accepted, but what I had believed to be just the prelude to an unforgettable night of sex, soon turned out to be the exact opposite.
With difficulty I had managed to get her name, Danielle Stenton, and when I had tried to step forward, she had immediately blocked me, telling me that she had not consented to follow me to be taken to bed, but only to be medicated, put ice on the knee and maybe have a warm bed to spend the night alone.
I had never been able to extort from her the reason why such a beautiful and charming woman could need a place to sleep, but I immediately understood that that incident was just an excuse to get my money. In fact, I wasn't surprised the next day when she asked me for a loan.
Of course I refused and she surprised me by saying that she would then work for me.
Hers hadn't been a request and I, for the first time, hadn't been able to say no.
A weakness that I now risked paying dearly for, since in those months Kendra had discovered many things about me and brought her to my house, had been yet another folly, because right there I kept all my most important assets and business.
Only then did I realize that, by being precious, Kendra had managed to get what she really wanted: to enter the villa and take advantage of the freedoms I had granted her to betray me and use everything I had against me.
And all for a fuck!
What an idiot!
I was still thinking about my mistakes when Kendra finally opened her eyes.
After the doctors had warned me of her awakening, I immediately ran to the private clinic to confront her and make her pay for every lie and deception suffered.
I also carried the gun with me, because at that point, after the heated discussion with Ryan about the true identity of that woman, I no longer trusted her and I would not hesitate to take revenge.
Calmly I sat on the edge of her bed, next to her, and waited for her to fully awaken, as the drugs numbed her.
Despite the purplish hematoma on her right cheekbone and the unnatural pallor of her face, she always remained beautiful, but with a beauty that by now left me completely indifferent, if not disgusted.
I waited for her eyes to rest on me.
Her silver gaze seemed watered down by the painkillers, but she opened wide when she landed on me.
I smiled at her satisfied and approached her face slowly, savoring that sparkle of fear and surprise that I read in her eyes.
"So, little liar, are you ready to pay the consequences of your deception?" I whispered to her in a low voice.
I saw her parting her full and perfectly drawn lips, but not a sound came out.
"I'll take your silence for a yes" I decided, grabbing the pistol tucked into her pants.
"Who are you?" Kendra asked me weakly, just as I was holding the weapon.
I burst out laughing. A low, guttural, almost threatening laugh.
I wanted to grab her by the neck and throw her out of bed, I was so furious.
"Seriously? Is this how you want to play it? Are you really sure?" I challenged her, determined not to let me fool myself again.
"I ... I don't know ... I ..." she mumbled uncomfortably, starting to look around in fear.
"Be careful what you say, Kendra, because this time I won't give you a second chance. Am I making myself clear?" I stopped her, but my threat seemed to trigger an adverse reaction.
"Who is Kendra?" she gasped, starting to shake and fidget.
She looked terrified.
"Where am I?" she stammered trying to pull herself up and sit up, but causing further pain, which made her moan. "It hurts!" she blew softly, bringing the hand to her chest, right where she had been hit by the bullet. "What happened to me?", she murmured dazed and in pain, looking at her bandaged arm and touching the bruises on her face and legs that she discovered from her blankets.
It was a moment and suddenly all that apparent calm vanished to make way for Kendra's fear that she was wriggling like a trapped animal.
Trembling and shaken, she removed the drip and tried to get up.
