Read Online Joseph Fallen (The Estate Series) by M.S. Willis - Free Book Online Page A

when you want sex, you
call that love?   That’s not love, Joseph.   It stopped being love years ago.   What will you do if I leave?   If you love me so much, will you let me
go?”
      “No.”   His response was instantaneous and
assured; the deep growl of his voice a warning given to the woman he
loved.   “If you leave, I will drag
you right back.   Your family is
gone, lost a long time ago, you have nowhere to go.”  
    Something snapped within Joseph at that moment; the
knowledge that his wife wanted to leave him, that she dared question his love
for her, caused a violent change within his psyche.   He knew she’d never understand, but
never had he believed that she would choose to live without him.   She was his and had been since the
moment he’d laid eyes on her.   He’d
worked tirelessly to give her everything, but yet, she couldn’t appreciate the
long hours he’d worked, the tangled web of genius he’d employed to create the
sophisticated network that supported them.   He wouldn’t allow it – he’d make her love him again.
    “Connor – leave us.”
    Arianna’s eyes left Joseph to watch as the strange man
behind him pushed off the wall and strode heavily through the door of the music
room, closing it behind him as he entered the hall.
    “Is that man my new babysitter?   Must I drag a killer around with me now
just to survive the situation you’ve created?”   She knew her words would anger him, she
could see the rage burning behind his eyes, but she held strong, her nerves
already shredded, her world already destroyed.   She didn’t fear what else she could lose
now that it felt like she’d already lost all that she’d ever had.
    Joseph didn’t respond to her, the normally tan skin of his
face turning an angry shade of red.   Unbridled fury coursed violently through his face as he took determined
steps towards her.   She backed up,
each step in perfect timing with his.
    Fear suddenly brushing across her mind, she attempted to
soothe the beast her husband had become.   “Joseph?   What are you
doing?   I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to
yell…”
    “Don’t apologize, Arianna.”   His voice was eerily calm.   “You’re only telling me what you really
think.”   His head tilted to the
side, his keen eyes surveying the myriad of expressions that raced across the
beautiful face of his wife.   “I just
find it – upsetting –
that you choose to blame me alone.”
    Her back against a wall, Arianna attempted in vain to keep
fear from saturating her voice when she responded.   “Who else do I have to blame? I didn’t
choose a life of crime.   I didn’t
have an obsessive need for more money, more power.   All I wanted was a loving husband, a
happy home – children…”
    He smiled, menace shadowing and making the expression even
more cruel than Joseph had intended.   It was a look she’d not seen before, one that startled her into silence
as soon as it stretched across his face.   “Children.   Yes,
Arianna.   Point out the failure
you’ve accomplished in the years we’ve been together.   How fitting that you bring up the one
thing you refuse to give me while I work endlessly to give you everything
you’ve ever wanted.”
    “I don’t want the things you give me!   I don’t care about the money, about the
parties, about the prestige or the envy!   All I ever wanted was you!   Why can you not see that?!”   She pleaded with him, her desperation dowsing her words as she
cried.   “I love you Joseph, but I
will not remain in the life you have chosen.   End this now, or let me go!”
    His arms came up to cage her against the wall, the motion of
his body slow and controlled while his weight pressed against her.   She turned her head to the side, refused
to look up into the eyes of a man who was fast becoming another stranger in her
life.
    His breath rolled down her cheek and the hair at the back of
her neck stood on end.   A feral
energy rolled off