Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the gates opened, and he pressed his foot to the gas. Nothing could happen to Chloe. Nothing. She had to live.
He hadn’t gone through all of this for her to die—not now. He’d followed every order. He’d been the perfect soldier and Brigadier for Zaitsev. All he’d done was take Chloe for himself. He couldn’t take her away from him.
He parked his car, climbed out, and rushed to the house, only to stop when he saw Zaitsev at the door.
“Hello, Roman.”
“There was no tip-off, was there?”
“No, I just needed you distracted for a bit. I had to get to Chloe, and it all worked out.”
“Why?”
“I happen to like you, Roman.” Zaitsev stepped closer to him. “I consider you like a son. Your father was a good man, a good soldier, but he was nowhere near as good as you. If there had been a chance, I would have promised him I’d take care of you as if you were my own.”
“You’d kill most men for taking Chloe to be their wife?”
“True, but you see, Chloe is a special circumstance. She is quite useful, as I’ve heard she has a certain specialty for gathering information.”
“I’m not going to use her.”
“No, but she might be exactly what you need, what we need, when the time is right. While she is your wife, and her loyalty is to you, she will remain safe. The moment she wants out, she will die.”
With that Zaitsev left and Roman rushed into his home. He knew exactly where to go. To the room he’d been building with all of Chloe’s family’s personal items. Everything she had to sell. He stepped into the room and there she was, sitting in one of the chairs.
“You know, this was my father’s chair,” Chloe said. “Mom hated it, but he refused to get rid of it, so she attempted to recover the chair, so it would match the other pieces of furniture. It never did, but Mom wouldn’t get rid of it. Dad would sit in it every single night, to enjoy his hot chocolate or a whiskey. My mom would sit in his lap. He would sit Christmas morning while my brother and I unwrapped Christmas presents. This was a hard one to give up.” She got to her feet and reached across the fireplace at the mirror. “Mom loved this. They went to a thrift store, and the moment she saw it, she had to have it. Dad hated it, but without batting an eye, he got it for her.”
Around the room, she moved, talking about her parents and brother, their favorite items and memories associated with it. Chloe came to stand in front of him.
“Why would you do this?” she asked.
“Because your family didn’t have much, Chloe. I know that, but you shouldn’t have lost them when you did, and you shouldn’t have had to give up everything you loved.”
She held the locket he’d acquired not too long ago.
“Is that all?” she asked.
Roman looked into her eyes, and he just knew what she was waiting for.
Tell her.
Seriously.
It is no secret.
A guy doesn’t go out of his way to find her previous possessions if he didn’t understand love.
“I think … I love you, Chloe Sidorov.”
“You only think?” she asked.
“I don’t know what love is, but if love is meeting a woman and never wanting to leave her side, then yes, I am in love. If love is looking forward to seeing that woman, and it becoming the best part of your day, then yes, I am in love. If telling little white lies for a woman to fall in love with you so she wouldn’t be hurt by who you actually are, then yes, I am. If finding all her family’s possessions and wanting to get her pregnant, and almost considering starting a war because he thought her life was in danger today, then yes, I am in love, and I’m in love with you.”
Chloe threw her arms around him and he pulled her in close, breathing her in. He had never known real fear, not in his life, not until today, when he thought Zaitsev was going to take her away from him.
“I love you too.”
He gripped the back of her neck and then slammed his lips down on hers. She moaned and melted against him. Roman broke the kiss and trailed his lips down her neck, sucking at the pulse, hearing her sudden soft gasp as he did so.
“I think I’m pregnant,” she said.
Roman looked into her eyes. “Are you happy about that?” he asked.
She chuckled. “Yes, I’m happy. I forgive you. I know you had nothing to do with my family’s death, not directly. You don’t have to feel guilty about anything.” She cupped his face. “And I love you. I’m not going to the cops. I’m not going to do anything but love you.”