Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
They worked for Lazar.
Mitya forced calm. He shut off the blow-dryer, unplugged it and took it into the master bath, needing to move. Dymka had a point. Threats had worked for his father. He frequently beat his wife as well as his children. He tortured men into submission. Everyone fell in line with him because if they didn’t, it was worse for them.
Is that the kind of relationship you want with Jewel? For her to be afraid of you? He was cautious in his question, choosing his images carefully. Was his leopard that fucked-up? If he was, what kind of hope did he have for his own relationship with Ania? His leopard’s mood definitely affected him.
I want her to be mine.
For the first time, Mitya felt the desperation in the leopard. He took another calming breath, trying to understand what was going on in the cat’s mind. Explain.
I am angry all the time and I make you that way. You are happy with Ania. I feel it. I am at peace when Jewel is close. No anger. It is the first time I can remember I don’t want to kill. It is the first time I can remember you don’t want to hurt someone. Jewel and Ania make us better. But Jewel rose with other males close and she invited them even closer.
Anger and rage were back instantly at the memory. The leopard wanted to pace and Mitya gave him that, pacing the length of the master bedroom and back, over and over like a caged animal.
She risked what we had. She risked your happiness. Our peace.
How did one explain to an animal? As intelligent as Dymka was, the traits of the leopard were ingrained in Jewel. Nature drove her during a heat. He had to try to make the cat understand.
Jewel has never been through a heat at the same time as Ania. The drive is tremendous. All females can be very amorous and flirtatious during that time. She will draw you close and then rebuff you. That is their way. She had no idea those males were going to be in the bakery. She has no control over when she rises. Dymka, what you did, threatening her, was wrong. It only drove her away from you.
There was a long silence. He felt Dymka’s need to emerge stronger than ever, but knowing he had threatened Ania, even through Mitya, didn’t make him feel she was safe.
I would never hurt Ania.
She is fragile compared to you. One bite, one swipe of your paw, and you could kill her. If you kill her, you kill Jewel and you kill us. Mitya made that clear. If I lose Ania, I will not continue. He wanted that clear as well. If his leopard needed firm guidelines and boundaries, he was going to give them to the cat.
I am aware. The tone was conciliatory.
Jewel may well try to repress her heat to prevent the mating ritual, Dymka. That was no threat but a very real possibility.
Again, there was a long silence. I want Ania to bring Jewel close. I will talk to her.
Mitya wasn’t positive that was such a good idea. Ania was exhausted, but she was also still very wary of Mitya. She may have committed to him and was certain she would follow through with that commitment, but he knew if her leopard pushed her to run, she would do so. He didn’t want that threat hanging over his head. Not when he knew what was coming. Or who.
Drake Donovan had brought the news that Sasha Bogomolov in Florida had sent him word that there were rumblings in the Russian communities that Lazar had been making inquiries. Joshua had told him that Lazar himself had reached out to him, asking questions about Mitya, Fyodor, Sevastyan and Gorya. He wanted locations and how many guards. He was offering big money for information.
Mitya didn’t want to share that news with Ania until he had cemented their relationship. She thought him bossy. He wanted her to know there was a reason he needed to be bossy. Her safety was paramount. To complicate matters, there was the very real threat to her. If her grandfather had taken a notebook Amory had filled with damning information about Jake Bannaconni and Drake Donovan, who had asked for the information? Who had hired Amory in the first place, and why? The notebook had been sent from New Orleans to the Anwars in Houston, but it had never arrived. Her grandfather had been the driver.
What kind of coincidence was it that at the same time, her father had made a delivery to the Caruso family from New Orleans? Had he bothered to look at the notebook? He knew it was simply a small book being sent. Would that have aroused his suspicion? Had one been sent to both families?