Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Both bodyguards crowded closer protectively. Gorya glided between them easily. “I think she’s safe enough when she’s with me.” There was an edge to his low tone, as if his famous control might be slipping.
Maya risked a quick look up at his face from under her lashes. He wore that same charming, easygoing, deceptive mask, but his eyes were pure silvery frost, edged now with slate blue. She saw the killer in him quite plainly. His fingers settled around her upper arm like a shackle, and he anchored her to his side.
“They can’t see you for what you are, Maya, but I do. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, stop. We’ll sort things out between us when we get home.” There was no inflection in his voice, but she knew it was a command.
She tilted her head back to look more fully at him. He saw her, did he? Well, she saw him too. He might deceive everyone else around him, but not her. He might pretend he had a nice side to him, a sweet, charming side, but she knew better. She saw right into him. He could go right ahead and look at what his family had made of her. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
On the outside, Maya looked like the girl next door. When she was around others, she often dressed in feminine clothing that made her appear younger and delicate. She smiled readily and agreed with everyone. Most of the time, she simply avoided being around anyone. She was nothing at all like she appeared. If anyone took her at face value, they did so at their own peril.
She stayed very quiet and remained as far from Gorya as possible in the close confines of the car on the ride back to his estate. Twice Wraith reached out to her, but Maya didn’t respond. Both times, Gorya turned that frosty bluish gaze on her as if his leopard was aware she was at odds with her female.
Maya curled her fingers into a fist and pressed it tightly against the knot developing in her stomach. Wraith had completely abandoned her. That had never been a remote possibility. Something heavy settled in her chest, crushing her heart. A vise gripped her lungs and squeezed until every last bit of air was gone and she couldn’t breathe.
For one terrible moment the door creaked open, and the feeling of brutal hands tearing at her body, hurting her, excruciating pain ripping her open, and the sound of male laughter filled her mind as a thin wire tore into her back. She fought back the need to vomit. Fortunately, the car stopped moving and the door beside her opened, spilling air into the interior where there had been only Amurov to breathe in.
Maya stumbled out, nearly going to her knees. It was Gedeon who caught her before she went down. She didn’t look at him as she managed to get her legs to work. She hadn’t allowed those memories to surface in years. She’d built herself into a strong, confident woman, capable of hunting the men who had beaten, raped and trafficked a child.
She did have times when she could barely get out of bed. She knew she was incapable of relationships. For the most part, she was a puddle of issues. Bad ones. There was nothing left of a human being other than what she’d developed herself into: A deceiver. A liar. A killing machine. She could track anyone. She doubted anyone could hide from her once she set out to find them. She was determined to find every single man who had raped her. Who had killed her family and friends. Not one would escape her. Only then could she rest.
“He’s a good man,” Gedeon said softly. “Give him a chance. He needs saving the way his leopard does. The way I did. Meiling was my miracle.”
Everything in her froze. Saving? Gorya Amurov needed saving? Gorya came up on the other side of her as she contemplated the absolute irony of Gedeon’s statement. She wanted to burst into hysterical laughter. At least she wasn’t going to vomit all over Gorya’s immaculate shoes as he came up beside her. She was no one’s miracle. If that was what he expected, he was in for a very sad letdown. She couldn’t save herself, let alone Gorya.
The one thing Gedeon had done for her was allow her to pull her fragmented mind back together. She flashed him her first half-real smile. “You aren’t very good at telling lies, Gedeon. Gorya is about as good a man as I am a good woman.”
Gorya slid his hand down her arm and took firm possession of her hand. “I don’t think we need to consider each other in terms of bad or good, do you?”
The moment his large hand surrounded hers, tiny embers flickered and smoldered through her veins. There was no way to stop it, so she didn’t try. She had to accept the fact that physically, because of Wraith’s heat, she was very susceptible to Gorya.