Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
He was utterly out of his depth. What could he even do?
Unless…
His hands shaking, Luke pulled out his phone. He brought up his contacts list and scrolled through until he came to the one he needed.
Roman Demidov.
He’d found Roman’s number among his father’s documents a few weeks ago and saved it, hating himself a little for doing it but doing it anyway. Since then, he had tried to delete it several times; he had, really, but something always stopped him. It was a good thing he hadn’t. Rationally, Roman was the only person of his acquaintance who would know what to do in this situation. It was logical to call him. Luke wasn’t calling him because he wanted to hear Roman’s voice or feel safe or something as pathetic as that.
The phone rang four times before a woman answered. She asked for Luke’s name and contact information. She told him that she would pass it along to her boss, sounding like she didn’t really believe Roman would call back. Luke didn’t really believe it, either.
He had half-convinced himself that Roman had no intention of calling him and had likely already left England when his phone went off later that night.
Luke stared at the screen of his phone for a long moment before taking a deep breath and answering.
“What do you want?” Roman said. “I’m rather busy at the moment.”
Luke turned onto his belly, trying to fight the wave of insecurity. Why would Roman want to help him? “I need your help.”
A pause.
“What with?”
“I got a call this morning,” Luke said. “Someone is very unhappy they didn’t receive two hundred kidneys my father apparently owed them. And now they’re…”
“Threatening you,” Roman finished for him.
“Yeah,” Luke said with a short laugh. “Do you, by any chance, have two hundred kidneys lying around?”
It had been a joke—and a bad one—but Roman’s answer was completely serious. “I don’t do any type of human trafficking.”
“That’s…that’s surprisingly decent of you.”
“I hate to disappoint, but it has nothing to do with decency. It’s just more hassle than it’s worth.”
“You’re a terrible person,” Luke said without much heat. He couldn’t quite muster up the disgust he should have felt at Roman’s unashamed cold-heartedness. He tried not to think what that said about him.
“That’s why you’re calling me,” Roman said, his tone very dry. “Because I’m a terrible person. Nice guys like your Bommer could never handle it.”
Luke’s forehead wrinkled. Was Roman jealous?
He cleared his throat. “Anyway. That’s not all. I looked through his documents, and it looks like the kidneys weren’t the only shipment my father owed to people. It’s…it’s not looking good.” Luke closed his eyes. “I’m so out of my depth,” he admitted quietly. What was it about Roman that made it so easy to admit weakness? “I just wanted to move on with my life. But now I must figure out how to deal with those people, how to get them off my back.”
“You want me to do it for you,” Roman said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” Luke said, trying to keep his voice firm and business-like. “I didn’t tell anyone it was you who kidnapped me. You owe me, Roman. If you don’t help me, I will tell MI6 it was you.”
Roman laughed, sounding deeply amused. “My fluffy kitten has claws.”
There was a squirmy sensation in his stomach. “Stop calling me that,” Luke said, pressing his flushed cheek to his pillow. “Will you help me or not?”
Even without seeing him, he could sense Roman’s smile fading.
“First off, I don’t owe you anything, love,” he said, his voice low. “I didn’t ask you to lie to the authorities for me. And you should know better. Threatening me isn’t the best way to get me to do something.”
Luke’s chest tightened. “Are you saying you won’t help?”
“I’m saying I’ll need a better incentive than that.”
His mouth was suddenly very dry, his heart thudding somewhere up his throat. “What do you want?”
“Twenty percent of Whitford Industries.”
Luke’s eyes flew open. He let out a laugh. “You think I’m crazy? I’m not letting you anywhere near my company.”
“Why not?” Amusement tinged Roman’s voice again.
“I want to get rid of any illegal dealings of my company. Letting you in is very counterproductive to that.”
“Sweetheart,” Roman said, his voice so low and intimate that it made Luke shiver. “You do realize that about seventy percent of my business is completely legal, right?”
Luke’s brows furrowed. That was news to him.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I don’t want you anywhere near my company.” Anywhere near me. “So choose something else.”
There was silence on the line, heavy and loaded.
“I’m afraid you don’t have anything I’m interested in,” Roman said at last. “Either agree to my price or there’s no deal.”
“No deal, then,” Luke said, as pleasantly as he could, and hung up. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to ignore the stupid, illogical hurt clawing in his chest. Of course Roman didn’t give a shit about him. Of course. Roman cared only about his own gain.