Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Steph started to drop, but Fedor held her up.
“I meant the men. I know you won’t run.” Fedor glanced around as though doing one final assessment. “You will not believe this, but I actually wish I didn’t have to give you away. I know how much Anya cares for you. She speaks of you often.”
“Anya will be a problem,” Petor said with a shake of his head. “You should let me put her out. I have plenty of drugs that would work. I fear what she’ll do when the time comes. It might be better to deal with her when we get back home.”
Anya could be vocal about her opinions. She was strong willed, but Steph knew that even the strongest of wills could be broken. God only knew what had happened to the lively blonde while she’d been in de Vries tender care. She hated the thought that Anya’s spirit might have been dimmed by these days spent in captivity.
“She’ll do what I tell her to do,” Fedor replied with the supreme confidence of a man who was used to getting his way. “This will have taught her that I was right all along. My father was overly indulgent with her. She will come home and marry a proper man and I won’t have to worry about her anymore. I’m done with this experiment. She should be settled down with children by now.”
“Good luck with that,” Tucker said. “Women don’t like it when you tell them what to do. That’s one of the first things I was taught after I woke up. Well, after I went to The Garden. Kayla gave us a list. Rule number one. Don’t be a douchebag.”
“Can you shut him up?” Fedor asked.
Maybe it was time she found a bit of Anya’s stubbornness. They’d left her on her feet. She needed to use all the advantages she had. She moved in front of Tucker’s kneeling form. If they wanted to hit someone, they could hit her. He’d taken enough. “He’s in pain. Let him be. If you need to torture someone, do it to me.”
Fedor chuckled, a humorless sound. He moved in, looming over her. “Do you think I cannot break you, girl?”
“I think I don’t care,” she replied. “You’ve already ensured that I won’t ever see my son again. I don’t care what you do to me now.”
Fedor frowned. “You make me sound like a monster. I am doing this for my family. You would do same. Your man would likely do the same if he was smart enough to catch me.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t. I would find another way.” Avery’s words floated back through her head, their meaning so much more precious in this moment. “Sometimes the universe deals us shitty cards and how we handle it is how we’ll be judged. I think this is exactly who you are, Mr. Shadrova. I think you enjoy killing. I don’t know why or how or what turned you, but since you and Anya came from the same place, I have to wonder who was the strong one. Actually, I don’t have to wonder at all. Whatever broke you, whatever transformed you into a man who could turn over three innocent people to someone who will torture and kill them, it didn’t break her. She would never do this. She wouldn’t stand for it.”
Fedor looked her over. “So the mouse has a backbone? Funny thing you should show it now.”
She was sick of that attitude. “You think because I don’t shoot people that I don’t have a backbone? That shows me how small-minded you are. The strongest woman I’ve ever known has never lifted a gun in her life. I’ve survived more than you can ever imagine.”
It struck her as the words rolled out of her mouth. She had. She’d survived. She might have made a lot of mistakes along the way, but she’d survived and come through the other side.
She’d become a woman who thought of others first, who put kindness above self-interest. Who sacrificed herself.
Who needed to let a man love her so all those good things she did didn’t mean she gave up a life of happiness.
“Perhaps you will survive this, too.” Fedor moved away, his hand on his cell phone. “They’re almost here. We will move quickly. And you’re wrong about one thing. You say I’m giving up three innocent people, but these two are guilty. You are guilty. You ran. Deep in our hearts, we’re all dark. You left my sister there.”
“You ever tried talking your sister out of something?” Alfi asked. “Who do you think came up with the bloody plan in the first place? It sure as hell wasn’t me. Anya made sure I got Steph out. Anyone’s at fault here, it’s me. I wanted to see if I could make a few bucks off that drive.”