Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
I scanned the space. “You told them all to go?”
“I did.” He raised his hands to his tie, loosened it, and then began taking it off. “I am aware that this is not what you want—”
“You let the family leave too?”
“I did.”
“Where did they go?”
David set the tie on the chair. “Back to the airport, Giorgio’s people are taking them to a new location.”
I sneered. “And Boris?”
“On the way to the airport to take up his duties next to the Mouse. I assumed you were done scaring him—”
“I was just beginning.”
“You should be in the air before sun set—”
“I will be in the air when I damn well please!”
David began unbuttoning his shirt. “I decided that I will be a number one that does not make you happy. Instead, I will double down on protecting you.”
I leaned my head to the side. “David, I think the biggest question right now is why the fuck are you taking off your clothes.”
David slipped off his shirt, revealing a toned muscular chest and powerful arms. “On the first day I came to Moscow with you, after you grabbed Emily from the French, I bought this suit to look more. . .up for the job. I was nervous. I wanted to impress you and the others. I did not think my flashy French suits would—”
“Why are you taking your clothes off?”
“The suit is sentimental to me, Kazimir. I do not want blood on it.” He neatly folded the shirt. His biceps flexed with the movement. He placed the shirt on the chair, returned in front of me, and then locked his gaze with mine. “You told Boris that we all had choices. I made mine.”
The line of my jaw twitched.
“You want someone to torture. I am the one that released everyone. Hurt me. I can deal with the consequences of my choice.”
I stepped closer to him and glared. “Getting rid of the gardener’s family was not your choice to make.”
“Am I not your best number one?”
“Do not let compliments go to your head.”
“But, am I?”
I gritted my teeth.
“Baba was upset.”
“Baba is not one of my men.”
“But, you must agree that Baba is not only invaluable to your life, but. . .she is your family.”
I swallowed.
“The Mouse was upset too.” Worry filled his eyes. “The conversation that she had with me on the phone. . .it was terrifying. I thought that you were scary, but. . .”
I didn’t want it to, but pride swelled in my chest.
“Apparently, a mouse can roar too.”
“You are my number one.”
“Baba talked about bad karma and how you could attract extreme amounts of negative energy by taking the family.” David shook his head. “She. . .mentioned visions of blood. And it wasn’t yours or Emily’s.”
I eyed him. “Whose blood was in her visions?”
“Emilio’s.”
I stepped back. “What?”
“She said that all this dangerous energy could be avoided if the gardener’s family was saved, then she put the Mouse on the phone, and. . .Emily discussed the many ways she had learned to make men scream, and how she would be using those special skills on me, if I ever brought innocent people around you to kill again.”
A smirk spread across my face. I tried to push it away, but it remained. “My mouse is quite a woman.”
“She is.” David gestured to the tools on the table. “We do not have much time, Kazimir. If you are going to torture me, then now is a good time.”
My smirk shifted to a scowl. “Are you trying to prove a point?”
“I am not.”
I studied him. “You really think I could hurt you?”
“I think that you need someone to hurt today because part of you. . .is still in pain over what Lunita did. It was horrific and unfathomable, and you do not know how to deal with it without killing someone.”
I fisted my hands at my sides.
“Your reputation. Your position in power. The respect that all have for you as the Lion.” David shook his head. “None of that stuff was harmed due to Lunita. None of our men see you differently. All feared you before. All fear you now.”
“But, how can you be so sure?”
“My job is to make sure that your reputation is secure, and I have confirmed this over and over in these last days that people are even more terrified after you killed the gardener.”
“But killing his family—”
“It may scare everyone to the point that they may begin plotting again like they did before. . .to kill you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before you killed Pavel, he mentioned that many thought you were losing control and needed to be stopped.”
I placed my hands in my pockets.
David continued, “If they see you as an uncontrollable madman who kills innocent people, they will believe that you have truly lost it and need to be taken out. Killing someone’s mother, sisters, and teenaged relatives. . . That is the type of stuff that can unite dangerous men to work together and come for you.”