Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
I never imagined a dreaded gynaecology appointment would result in a fire-sparking connection hotter than the sun.
Even in an office designed to torture women, the tension between the sinfully delicious stranger and me is so blistering that we spend the night together, twisted beneath silky sheets.
Although disappointed to wake alone the following morning, I assume aching muscles will be the worst side effect of our night of sin.
If only anything in my life was that simple.
I learn shortly after our night of debauchery that Andrik isn’t just seductively charming and easy on the eye. He is also married.
During an exchange as heated as the night before, he assures me that I have nothing to feel guilty about, that his marriage is a contractual agreement designed to take down a hierarchy that’s been ruling his life since prior to his conception.
His defense is so credible that I almost believe him.
But with one lie unearthing a dozen more, it isn’t solely Andrik’s affair being scrutinized.
A dynasty centuries in the making is about to topple, and I’m unknowingly wielding the axe responsible for its demise.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
ANDRIK
Almost five years old…
“Twik. She’s coming.”
Cold air makes crazy bumps on my arms when Mommy runs past me so fast you’d swear Anoushka, my nanny, was chasing her down with a scratchy, sodden washcloth.
“Quick, Andrik.” Mommy’s smile when she spins to face me makes my heart thump. I love it when she’s happy. It makes me happy too.
I run faster than my feet ever thought possible and then leap into her arms as we reach my bedroom. You’d never know my face is covered with chocolate icing for how tightly she pulls me into her chest. I’m making a mess, even more than I did when I snuck a big bite of my birthday cake just as the baker finished icing it.
It was delicious, and I can’t wait to share it with my friends tomorrow.
“Where should we hide, Andrik?”
I laugh like my mommy is as silly as she is pretty when she throws up the covers on my bed and points to the floor underneath. We’d never fit. There are too many monster trucks under my bed to squeeze in two whole people. It is also the first place Anoushka would look.
I always hide there.
Not anymore. I’m a big boy now.
Well, I will be tomorrow.
I’m turning five and about to have the best birthday party in the world. I’m not the only one who thinks so. All the kids from my hometown want to come to my party—even the ones who made Mommy cry when she found out about them.
I have three brothers, but I am the only one who grew inside my mommy’s tummy. She said Daddy has a condition that makes it hard for him to be faithful. I don’t know what faithful means. It seems important to Mommy. Anytime she talks about it, she gets wet eyes. She also makes me promise at least once a month that when I find someone I want to love more than I love her—which will never happen—that I’ll be faithful to them.
Maybe being faithful means that when I want to have babies, I will only have them with one person. I could be wrong, but that’s very unlikely. My mommy says I’m very smart. Only when I make steam come out of Anoushka’s ears do I take after my daddy.
I don’t like when my mommy cries, so anytime we talk about my brothers, I tell her she has nothing to worry about. I’ll never love anyone more than I love her, but if that ever changes, I will be faithful.
Life is too short to think about ifs and buts.
My mommy says that all the time.
You make a plan and you stick to it.
That’s her second favorite saying, so I do exactly that. I snatch up Mommy’s hand and race for the closet I had planned to hide in when I dashed out of the kitchen with sticky hands and a mouth full of cake.
We almost make it, but my legs are too tired from all the running I did earlier. My grandfather’s house is ginormous. It would have been quicker to run home than to the room I always use when we visit Grandpa. The last time I tried to do that, the secret service agents who follow Grandpa everywhere he goes got mad at me.
I promised them I wouldn’t do it again, and I like to keep my promises. They make my mommy happy, and that feels like my job lately.
I giggle, squirm, and squeal when Anoushka wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me back. My screams are loud enough to wake my grandpa, who went to bed ages ago, until Anoushka’s washcloth takes care of the mess Mommy’s shirt missed. She attacks me with the washcloth like she did in the bath, and I laugh so much I almost pee my pants.
I would have if Mommy hadn’t saved me.
She scoops me into her arms and blows raspberries onto my tummy until the thump I mentioned earlier makes me deaf. I feel warm and fuzzy when she places me in bed. I don’t think it has anything to do with the thick covers. It’s how she looks at me when our eyes lock and the pretty sparkles that dance through her eyes when she tells me she loves me.
“I love you too, Mommy,” I reply, yawning.
I’ve been waking up too early. It isn’t my fault. Party preparation takes time, and I overheard someone telling Daddy that Mommy did not have much time left, so I had to help.
After fixing my hair into place, Mommy twists to face Anoushka. “We will save the Big Angry Bear for tomorrow night.” Her eyes are back on me, happy and glistening. “Someone seems a little tired. I doubt he will make it through story time.”
I yawn again, proving Mommy right. I’m not surprised. She is smarter than me. I’m so tired she only rakes her fingers through my messy dark locks a handful of times before my eyelids grow heavy.