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)
Suspicion echoes in my tone. “As you stated this morning when you used that as your excuse to have her turkey basted with my sperm. You said it was prime breeding time and that you didn’t want to miss the opportunity of fulfilling the sole term of my contract at the earliest possible convenience.”
My wording choice could be better. I just don’t have the time or the patience to flick through a dictionary for a better definition of the jargon she hit me with this morning when she used the procedure Arabella undertook last night as a reason to deny my request for an annulment.
“That is correct,” Dina replies, her throat bobbing. “But the attending physician announced that the probability of conception would be higher if… it was administered again.”
“It?”
My cock shrivels when she thrusts her hand at my crotch. Its withered response isn’t solely because it is the first time it’s had a wrinkly hand within an inch of it. It is also compliments to what she says next. “He encourages an old-fashioned approach to conception.” She grabs my arm and pulls me deeper into the curtains flanking the floor-to-ceiling windows of the foyer. “Arabella is exceptionally trained in all aspects of matrimony. She is ripe and ready to please.”
Ripe?
She’s sporting off her daughter’s assets as if she is selling me a piece of steak.
After what I’ve seen in my industry, I shouldn’t be surprised. Women are bartered for as often as cocaine is traded. Their value rarely surpasses the white bricks of snow I’d hand over for free if forced to pick between banking its profits or burying my head between Zoya’s legs again.
I will always pick the latter.
“You just need to give her a chance to show you she will far succeed your greatest expectations.”
Before I can remind Dina of the exact wording of my contract with her daughter, Konstantine announces he has unearthed Zoya’s location. “She just entered Stoltz and Hemway’s office complex. She isn’t alone.” My back molars crunch when he says, “Mikhail is shadowing closely behind her. Want me to send someone in?”
“No,” I reply, aware nothing is done right unless you do it yourself. “I will handle this.”
Konstantine hums like he knows a cleanup crew will be called to Stoltz and Hemway before close of business, but then a harsh swallow cuts off its lengthy rumble.
“What is it?”
I’m seconds from signing Mikhail’s death certificate, when Konstantine shifts my focus elsewhere. “Man entering at your six. Blue suit. Seedy stache. One too many undone buttons. And a four-carat ruby on the custom piece on his left pinkie.” My eyes bounce to each feature he points out as I tighten my jaw more and more. “Does that crest look familiar to you?”
I squint, then cuss. I can’t see shit from this angle.
“The sun is—”
My phone buzzing in my pocket interrupts my excuse. With my eyes on the man greeting my father as if they’re long-lost acquaintances, I dig my phone out of my pocket, then apprehensively drop my eyes to the image Konstantine forwarded.
Vengeance burns through my blood hot and fast. It isn’t an exact replica of the emblem I drew over a decade ago, but it is pretty fucking close.
“Who is he?”
A keyboard being punished sounds before Konstantine’s gravely tone. “Running him through facials now.”
Forever impatient, I say, “Tell Mikhail to move in closer until I get there.”
I don’t want to lose Zoya’s tail for the second time, but I’m too curious about the unnamed man’s identity to wait for facial recognition software to find a match. I’ve been seeking the owner of a large ruby ring with an engraved family crest on it for over thirty years. It was on the hand of the man my mother slapped mere seconds before she vanished without a trace—the same hand that left my cheek with a hairline scar.
“Warn Mikhail what will happen if he loses sight of her.”
“I’ll send exterminators to Petr’s location now,” Konstantine replies, announcing he knows what my unvoiced threat entails. “Anything else?”
Conscious he has eyes everywhere, I shake my head before yanking the bead-size communication device from my ear and dropping it to the floor.
The crunch of its demise is softer than the whack I hit my father’s back with before demanding an introduction to the man who has the focus of my entire team.
Even Arabella is gawking at him in surprise, and I’m really fucking curious to unearth why.
18
ZOYA
“Ithought the tears your colleague shed as he fell to his knees would have warned you to stay away.” I bump closed one of the many filing cabinets hidden at the back of the reception desk of Stoltz and Hemway before spinning to face the man whose pricy cologne announced his stalk long before the slow bob of his Adam’s apple. “If you’re as eager to breed as your brother, I suggest you turn around. It may be the only way your nuts will stay out of your stomach.”