Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Aiden eats a giant breakfast: sausage, bacon, eggs, waffles, and pancakes. He lays out a small plate for me but says nothing as I stare at it. The tension in the air is icy and taut, as though it’s ready to snap.
I’ve had a shower and changed into some simple clothes Aiden bought for me: jeans and a hoodie. I pull the sleeves up, hugging my arms around myself. He glances up quickly as though seeing me like this makes him want to hold me. Or maybe I’m projecting, wishing, and dreaming things into reality that just aren’t there.
“You’ll be meeting your mom soon,” he says after a pause. “Are you excited?”
“It still doesn’t feel real,” I admit. “So I guess I’m not letting myself get excited.”
“You can now,” he says with a small smile. “I know this hasn’t been … usual, but because of your family, I had to take certain steps.”
“My brothers aren’t monsters.”
“Your brothers are Bratva. They’re criminals.”
“And you’re not?” I snap. “Kidnapping is a crime.”
“They do it for money. I do it—”
“Because you’re a hero. Got it.”
That gets another smirk out of him, but he quickly wipes it away. Something is intoxicating about making him smile when he doesn’t want to.
“Does she talk about me a lot?” I ask after a pause. When he frowns, I say, “Tell the truth.”
“Until your dad … did what he did, she didn’t. Only recently.”
“What does she say?”
“She wishes she was brave enough to go after you.”
“What happened?” I ask. “Why didn’t she?”
“It’s rough, Ania.”
“Am I a little girl?” I hiss. He looks at me as if to say yes, infuriating me. I don’t want to be a little kid in his eyes. “Just tell me the facts. No crap. No coddling.”
“Your mother was alone in the world with no one to turn to … and so she sold the only thing she had: herself,” he says after a pause, sighing heavily. “Konstantin noticed her immediately, and you can imagine what happened. Once she realized what she had gotten herself into, she ran, but it was too late. After he found out she’d given birth to his child, he beat her, left her for dead, and took you. Molly was too terrified to do anything. She’s been living with that terror for years.”
The news hits me like a truck. I always knew there was more to the story—it’s not like Dad was some great guy or anything—but this version of Konstantin Sokolov doesn’t match with the version of himself he showed to me. He always treated me like his princess, except for occasional flashes of rage. Weirdly, I could always somehow look past that.
“Oh,” I mutter, feeling deflated more than anything. “I guess that makes sense. It sort of jives with who he truly was.”
I stare down at my small plate of food, but my belly is still twisting and aching from what I did in the bathroom. Usually, there’s satisfaction with that tickling, a job-well-done sensation. I tell myself I’m making the right choices and doing what’s best for my career. Now, I just feel … What do I feel?
“Ania,” he says, his voice softer this time, almost loving.
No, no. That’s just nuts. I’m happy to pretend it never happened. That’s what he said about me trying to get intimate with him when I was sleepwalking. I’ve never done that before. Then again, I’m generally surrounded by my brothers and the Sokolov staff, not a tall, handsome man who makes me feel all sorts of confused.
“She sold herself,” I say. “I wonder …”
Then, unexpectedly, I’m crying. I don’t even know where it came from. It’s like a gate of agony has just burst open inside of me. One moment, I feel normal. Or at least, I can trick myself into believing that. Then, all these emotions are rushing in.
I stand as the walls feel like they’re closing in on me. Aiden stands, too. “Leave me alone,” I snap, turning and heading for the bathroom.
I slam the door behind me, locking it, hating the reflection that stares at me from the mirror. The woman in the mirror looks small and terrified. She seems vulnerable. She looks like somebody who needs help, a knight in shining armor. That’s not me.
“Ania. What are you doing in there?” Aiden says from the other side of the door, rattling the doorknob.
“This isn’t about that!” I scream, almost pulling my hair out. “Stop making everything about that.”
After some rattling and jiggling, the door slides open a crack. Aiden ducks his head through the doorway. Moving closer, he raises his hand like he might touch me, then closes it into a fist. It’s like this is almost painful for him.
“The past is the past,” he says.
“My dad told me she wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I’ve never known Molly to lie,” Aiden replies. “As for Konstantin Sokolov …”