Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Wait here,” Dimitri says, leading me to the car’s passenger side and then taking out his cell, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
He shuts the door as if he doesn’t want me to hear the call he’s making. I feel like there’s a war in my chest. Half of me wants to stay with Dimitri. The other knows I should run far and fast. He’s a stranger; I know nothing about him. Everything we shared is now confusing and twisted.
When Dimitri turns his back, I remind myself that I’m supposed to be thinking my way through problems, not feeling. Even if it means going against my instinct to stay with him, I open the car door, breathe, and start running.
“Fuck,” Dimitri yells, and I hear his footsteps behind me, quiet beneath the ringing that’s still bouncing around my head.
I duck around a corner and end up in an alleyway. Dammit. I just keep running. The whole thinking thing fails because I end up with Dimitri backing me against a dead end. He still has his gun in his hand, but it’s aimed at the ground now.
“Are you going to shoot me, too?” I snap.
He looks disappointed more than anything. Tucking his gun away, he says, “Lia, I’m sorry, but you’re coming with me now. It’s not safe for you anymore.”
“You have to explain.”
“No, I don’t. Not yet. Not until you’re safe.”
He walks over and looms over me. Just minutes ago, this would’ve felt romantic and dangerous in a fun way.
“Who are you?” I whisper. “Tell me that much, at least.”
“I’m the Pakhan of the Sokolov Bratva,” he says.
“The what of the what?” I ask. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Later,” he grunts. “I’ll carry you to the car if I have to.”
His expression is solemn. What other choice do I have? But maybe that’s a copout. Perhaps this is just me listening to the small, confused voice inside that tells me, somehow, I’ll be safer with this stranger than anywhere else.
Dimitri drives out of the city and into the desert, his square jawline tight. We don’t say anything for a long time. It’s like it’s a game, seeing who will crack first, but then I can’t take it anymore.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Are you?” he counters, relieved I’ve finally spoken. Maybe he just thought I didn’t want to.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. Except that the phrase world tipped upside down suddenly has way more meaning. “I’m not the one who had to…”
“I don’t feel bad about that,” he rasps. “They were going to kill you, Lia. Or, if they got me first, even worse…” He shudders. “The cowards who ran are lucky.”
I sit back in the seat, closing my eyes and breathing. “So what is the Bratva? Is it like the mafia?”
“Sort of,” he says.
“So you’re a gangster?”
He grits his teeth. “It’s complicated.”
“Then explain it to me.”
Something is devastating in the way he sighs. It’s like he wants to turn back time and go back to just being the CEO. I’d like that, too. Things felt high stakes enough when it was just me and him and our heat, but this is something else. My ears are still ringing, and my heart is still thudding.
“Soon,” he mutters awkwardly.
“Tell me where you’re taking me, at least.”
“The compound.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s the Sokolov house with around-the-clock security. It’s the safest place for you right now.”
“But I’ve got work tomorrow.”
“Not anymore, you don’t. I’m sure your boss will understand.”
Since the road is long and empty, he’s free to turn to me with a smirk, but it’s not like before. This one has an edge to it—a killer’s edge, maybe—but he’s trying, so I do, too. I smile back. “Ya think?”
He laughs humorlessly, and then the silence is back. If he won’t tell me what’s happening, what’s the point of talking and saying nothing? After another fifteen minutes, we turn into the middle of nowhere. Soon, tall walls come into view, and a massive silver gate appears. Beyond the gate, I can see a vast property, two large houses, and a long lawn. Is that a tennis court?
Dimitri stops at the gate, lowering his window. I see a small pad with a digital thumbprint shape on it. Before he pushes his thumb against it, he turns to me.
“Before we go in there, you need to know something…”
“I need to know a lot of stuff,” I tell him.
“Yeah, but this is important. A woman is staying here. Her name is Mila. Before my father passed away, he arranged for me to marry her. He made a deal with her father. I’m trying to get out of it, but I just wanted to warn you.”
His words slam into me so hard, it doesn’t even make sense. Or maybe it’s that I know it shouldn’t make sense. I shouldn’t let myself care so much about this stranger, this liar, but… No, I don’t. I can’t. Oh, hell. I almost wish I could turn back time before I met him, when the idea of him marrying another woman would’ve meant absolutely nothing to me. Even now, it shouldn’t.