Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Aurora’s visibly rattled by my words, but still, she shoves me away before wiping the blood off with the back of her hand. “Go to hell, Misha.”
There’s fire and ice in her voice, and I can’t stop my chest from filling with pride for her. I’m glad she’s not just taking my shit but fighting back. At least the woman has a spine.
She’s going to need it.
Our eyes remain locked for a solid minute before I give Alek and Armani a chin lift to let Abbie go.
With the job done, I turn away from Aurora and head down the hallway.
“Fuckers,” I hear Abbie spit.
As soon as we turn the corner and we’re out of hearing distance, Alek chuckles, “Honestly, the whole blood thing looked more like foreplay than a threat.”
“Fuck off,” I mutter.
“I’m with Alek on this one,” Armani adds his two cents. “I was expecting you to fuck her right against the wall.”
Quickly losing my patience with my friends, I growl, “Khristos, you’re pissing me off.” I glare at both of them. “Stop this shit.”
Armani nods, but Alek lets out a burst of laughter, taunting me, “You’re the one with the hard-on.”
Spinning to my left, I grab hold of Alek’s shirt and shove him back.
He quickly takes a solid stance, and face-to-face, there’s no fear from him. He just stares at me with a daring smile.
“I don’t have a fucking hard-on for D’Angelo. Got it?”
“If you say so.”
Letting go of the man who’s like a brother to me, I’m instantly filled with regret for losing my temper with him. He’s always had a daring, playful personality. Most think he’s just another bad boy who doesn’t take anything seriously, but I know better.
Alek will kill and die for those he loves. He’ll do what’s necessary when push comes to shove.
Armani and I will do the same for him and our loved ones, but Alek’s the one who will take it a step further. There’s no wrong or right in his books, and his moral compass is a little fucked, but at the end of the day, he will do what no one else is prepared to do to get the job done.
And it makes me worry about Aurora.
If Alek loses his temper, he might just kill her on St. Monarch’s grounds, and I can’t have that happening.
Pulling him into a hug, I whisper, “I’m okay. Just let things be.”
He lets out a dark chuckle. “You’re far from okay, brother.”
Blyadʹ.
Pulling back, I place a hand at the side of his neck and lock eyes with him. “Don’t you fucking dare go after Aurora.”
The corner of his mouth lifts into a sadistic grin. “So the friend is fair game?”
Letting out a sigh, I shake my head.
Armani steps closer, giving Alek a look of warning. “The women will be ignored. I, for one, don’t want to suffer the wrath of Viktor Vetrov and Luca Cotroni. You know women are not fair game in our world.”
Alek shakes his head, and it doesn’t look like he cares much for the rules. “Bullshit. Men, women, children – they’re all fair game. Having a kiska doesn’t set you above anyone else.”
Wrapping an arm around Alek’s shoulders, I steer him in the direction of the dining room. “Come. Food will lessen your thirst for blood.”
“You better wash the blood off your hand if you expect me to eat anything,” Armani mutters.
With a chuckle, I stop at a restroom to rinse my hands off, then we find an open table in the dining room.
While Alek orders half the menu, I glance around, my eyes touching on our enemies and allies sitting down for lunch at their respective tables.
Every now and then, a fight will break out, but no one dares break the only rule at St. Monarch’s – no killing on the premises.
My gaze settles on Marsela Kodra, a sex trafficker. He’s already raped two women and one guy during his stay at St. Monarch’s. It didn’t happen on the grounds, though, but at a nightclub in Geneva. I’ve heard the three people disappeared, and my guess is Kodra’s people have kidnaped them.
Marsela will be a threat to Aurora and Abbie.
It’s not your problem.
I tear my eyes away from the man and pick up the coffee Armani ordered for me.
Just then, Kazuo Jirocho and Takaharu Saturo walk into the dining hall. They’re members of the yakuza, and everyone knows they’re not here for training. It’s all an act because the yakuza do their own training.
Why they’re really here, I don’t know. But I don’t like it, and to make matters worse, they have a new trainee that’s joined this past week, so now we have three of the fuckers roaming the halls of St. Monarch’s.
“You think Instructor Volkov would let us practice torture techniques on those fuckers?” Alek asks, his eyes burning on Kazuo and Takaharu. He’s been thirsting after their blood for the past two years.