Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 93506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
He smiles. It’s not a smirk or a grin. It’s a genuine wide smile that nearly stops my heart. “Morning, wife.”
“M-morning,” I whisper, stuttering like an idiot. “Husband.”
It’s really not good for my sanity when he does these unexpected things.
“That’s right, your husband. You’re Mrs. Morozova now.” He pauses. “The only downside to that is that you share the same title as my mother.”
“I can live with that.”
“Ivanova, huh?” He lies back beside me and stares at me. “What’s the story there?”
I gulp. “That last name doesn’t ring any bells for you?”
“Not particularly. Should it?”
A breath leaves my lips. I knew he had nothing to do with my family’s death. “I guess not.”
“Are you going to tell me why you’re hiding your identity?”
I bite my lower lip. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t tell him. After all, he already knows my last name, so he can trace back my story.
Besides, we’re married now, and that comes with mutual trust. So I roll to my side and face him. “Remember when I told you my family was influential, but then we went bankrupt?”
He nods, “I suppose that’s either not the whole story or a cover-up.”
“Yeah. We were indeed influential, but we didn’t really go bankrupt. We were attacked in our vacation house by soldiers from the army.” My lips tremble as the events of that day play out in front of me. “We were all gathering for lunch on Christmas day when they barged in, in broad daylight, and opened fire on everyone, not sparing women, children, or even infants. I was pushed down under a table by my cousins, who paid with their life for the sacrifice.”
Tears stream down my cheeks, and Kirill strokes his thumb under my eyes, wiping them away.
“I lost my parents and ten other members of my family. My brother, too. We never found his body, but it’s been years, and I haven’t managed to locate him. I was…sixteen at the time. I’m over twenty-two now, and I’m starting to think he died somewhere else.”
“Who’s we?”
“What?”
“You said we never found his body. Were there other survivors?”
Damn. Of course Kirill would pay such close attention to detail. “My uncle, grandmother, and young cousin were the only survivors, but we had to live in hiding because those who attacked us wouldn’t be done until they eradicated us all.”
“Is that why you were pretending to be a man?”
I nod. “Our hideout was discovered when I was around eighteen, and I was recognized immediately, probably because I look so much like my mother. So after they knew I could be the only survivor, these people had my image everywhere on their internal servers, and my life was in danger, so I faked my death, dressed up as a man, and joined the army.”
“To search for the people behind the hit.”
“How…did you know that?”
“It makes sense since you said the people who attacked you were soldiers.”
“It was like intentional cleansing.” I lean my cheek against his hand as he continues wiping away my tears. “I still don’t understand why. We were rich, but we weren’t involved in anything shady. Or at least, I didn’t think so.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“I was too young at the time, so I didn’t pick up on our family’s business. I thought all the security we had whenever we went out was part of our rich status, but now, I’m sure there was more to it. My uncle is hiding things from me, because even though the hit came from within the army, they were only soldiers under orders. The actual mastermind could be…your father.”
He pauses stroking my cheek for a beat. “Roman?”
“I…saw him in our main house a few days before the attack and then again before that last mission with the Special Forces.”
“Hmm. So that’s why you followed me to New York and were strangely upset when he died.”
“Yeah…” I trail off, then blurt, “But that was only in the beginning. I wanted to search for information but didn’t really find anything, and I liked being with you so…I swear I wasn’t spying on you.”
“There’s nothing to spy on. I have no idea what the fuck Roman was doing with your family, and he left no records behind, which is admittedly strange since he left records about everything.”
“Oh.” My shoulders hunch. So it’s another dead end.
“If Roman was involved, however, it probably was due to a bad move from the head of your family. My father’s strongest point was mind games and pure sabotage. That’s the only way he managed to get to the top and force someone like Yulia to marry him.” He caresses my cheek gently, lovingly even. “I’ll look into it from my position.”
“You…will?”
“You’re my wife. Your problems are now mine.”
I didn’t think I’d ever fall deeper in love, but I just keep falling for this man all over again.