Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Azelie forced herself to ask the necessary questions. The important ones. “Do you own a gun?” She had to know.
Her heart went crazy, accelerating far beyond what it should have. She found she was more fearful of his answer than she was of Billows and his threats. She wasn’t falling for Billows. She was for Andrii.
She knew she was more than halfway there. Everything about Andrii appealed to her. He was sweet and caring. Very attentive. At the same time, he made her shiver with excitement, feeling the underlying power clinging to him. She had been on her own for as long as she could remember. Janine had taken her in when her mother had imploded, but she was expected to contribute to the household—even when Quentin wasn’t.
She had often made decisions with Janine she didn’t want to make. Neither woman had a choice when there was no one else to figure it out. She pushed herself to be definite and firm in her options, but her inclination was to put things off. Like Billows. She still didn’t have a great exit plan. She kept putting that off until she made it through college. Who knew what she would do then?
But a gun in her home? Guns in the hands of the man she might eventually live with? She wasn’t certain she could overcome that particular roadblock. The thought was terrifying to her. She kept her gaze steady on his. “Do you, Andrii? Do you own a gun?”
Andrii didn’t flinch or look away. “Several guns. And my guns aren’t my only weapons. I am a weapon.”
She touched her tongue to her upper lip, unable to decide how she felt about his admission. His tone was calm and velvet soft. He looked at her as if she were his world. Quentin had never looked at Janine that way, but he had professed to love her.
“Talk to me, Zelie. That’s what we’re doing here, being honest and communicating.”
She had to be real with him. Tell him the strict truth. If he couldn’t take it, they weren’t meant to be, no matter how much she wanted him. “The idea of guns anywhere around me makes me uneasy,” she admitted.
“Come here to me. I need you close when we talk about our future.”
“I get lost when I’m too close to you,” she admitted.
“I’ll keep us on track. This is important to you. To both of us. Come here, baby.”
His voice. So compelling. How could she resist? She moved into him, standing between his thighs. At once, he pulled her into his arms, onto his lap. She knew when he wanted her close, it meant on his lap. She didn’t protest. She felt safer when his arms were around her.
He cradled the side of her face with his palm, his thumb sliding over her lips, sending shivers of awareness down her spine.
“Baby, I’m not Quentin. I know guns might seem scary to you, but you need to see who I am. I’m far more lethal than your brother-in-law could ever have been. He was a bully and a coward. He couldn’t have loved your sister or his children or you. I would kill for you, but I would never do anything to harm you. You’re my savior. My world. A treasure beyond any price. If things go bad between us, I would move heaven and earth to make them right. I would never, under any circumstances, consider harming you.”
She touched the tip of her tongue to her suddenly dry lips. He had admitted to her he was trained as an assassin from an early age. She had no doubt that he was skilled in his craft. Just the fact that he was alive was a testament to his expertise. If she entered into a relationship with him, she would always know what he was capable of. It had never occurred to her that he wasn’t telling her the truth. Looking at him, seeing him, lent credence to his admissions.
“What are you thinking?”
“You could have lied to me about your past.” She didn’t know what she was asking of him. Reassurance? How could he make her feel as if she wouldn’t be living under a threat when he readily admitted he was a lethal weapon even without a gun?
“I could have, but I want our relationship to be about trust. About honesty. I need to know that you can accept me the way I really am. No fantasy. No overlooking my faults. To be in the relationship I need, you have to trust me. That isn’t going to be easy, and I’m aware you’ll be making quite a few concessions, so it’s important to me to always, always, give you the truth. You will need to know you can depend on me, on my word, no matter what the circumstances are. If I can’t tell you something right at the time you ask a question, I’ll let you know why I can’t answer and when I’ll be able to.”