Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Right now, I’m a man down, but I’m not going to put up with this psychopathic bullshit for another week. I’ll have to get Larry to go up to my offices to work out something reasonable with one of my guys and put a very tight leash on Ivan until Marcus’s return.
9
AMELIA
One month later
So much has changed over the last month that I have to keep pinching myself to make sure all this is real. I’ve gone from living in hell in Dan’s trailer, to being homeless, to having my very own place. Of course, my apartment is small, a one-bedroom affair, but it’s clean with freshly painted walls and cozy with warm rugs on the wooden floor. I’m so happy here. In fact, right now, I’m happy with every aspect of my life, something I’ve never been able to say before and something I was beginning to fear I might never get to say.
Who would have known? Dan showing the full extent of his true colors turned out to be a good thing for me. If he hadn’t pushed me over the edge that day, no doubt I’d still be living at the trailer park working in another dead-end job I hated, and totally stuck in a life I didn’t want.
I think back to that first night I met Viktor Leshchenko. My first thought was: God, he is beautiful! Wild with wolfish silvery eyes and midnight-black hair. Dressed from head to toe in black, he also radiated danger. When he spoke to the two goons quietly in a language I did not understand, I could only stare at him in open-mouthed shock.
Then he turned those silvery eyes to me, and it was like a punch to the gut.
At first, I was wary of accepting help from a man like him. I mean, he was just so out of my league, in every way possible. I could tell by the cut of his suit and the supreme confidence with which he addressed Larry that he was probably on Forbes richest list or something.
Okay, that night, in my naivety, I’ll admit, I did think he’d be back to extract some form of payment in kind for his help, but as the days turn into weeks, I realize he didn’t help me because he fancied me or anything of the sort. In fact, I’m starting to think he was sent to me for a reason.
He’s my knight in shining armor.
Until the day he walked into the Pink Flamingo, I knew next to nothing about Russians. My knowledge, gleaned mostly from Tik Tok videos, had led me to believe they were vodka chugging Communists who kept massive bears as pets, and were ruled by a dictator called Putin, who was also a dangerous madman with access to a nuclear button that could incinerate the whole world at a moment’s notice.
Instinctively, I knew what I believed could not possibly be true. Especially, if Viktor is any indication. So, I began to stay up late into the night, reading everything I could lay my hands on about Russia, its culture, history, literature, art, and even its politics.
What I learned fascinates and intrigues me.
But since that day I haven’t seen him again. Apparently, he is away in Russia on business. I heard Mrs. Brent, the housekeeper, telling one of the gardeners she is worried what will happen now that there is talk of war with Russia. Will Mr. Leshchenko be targeted with sanctions?
None of the other staff suspects that I’m waiting impatiently for Viktor to return. The wait is almost unbearable. Sometimes the other maids will talk about him, and I’ll listen intently without appearing too interested. I believe Katya might have a crush on him, but they all speak very highly of him. It even seems they are in awe of him, as if he’s not quite real. A sort of foreign fantasy hero.
Like me, each one has her own rescue story to tell.
There’s Lacey who ended up working here because her ex-husband, who used to work for Viktor, was beating her up. Viktor once saw her with a black eye and offered her a way out. Then there’s Justine, a friend of Lacey’s. who had been working since she was sixteen as a prostitute to feed her two babies. She jumped at the chance to come and work here.
From what they’ve said, it appears he is hardly ever around. The staff are governed by a management team that treats us well.
It is unanimously agreed that the Christmas bonuses are huge.
Not that I’m worried about a bonus. My wages are more than generous and I’m living comfortably for the first time ever. Plus, I actually enjoy the work. It’s the sort of honest work that leaves you aching at the end of the day, but feeling good because you didn’t have to do anything that made you feel dirty inside.