Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“No, baby,” he says with another characteristic smirk. “Only you.”
I want to hate him. I want to separate us, at least superficially, with a wall between us so that I don’t ever have to worry about him hurting my heart. I started falling for him—I know I did, but I can’t give my brother any more fodder.
I turn away and stare out the window, looking for any evidence at all that we’re being followed. I can’t see any.
But I know they’re there.
My arm burns from my injury. I’m tired. My eyes feel scratchy, and my mouth is dry from dehydration. I’m a mess. But that doesn’t stop my heart from soaring when I see the Romanov family home looming in front of us, as bright as a brilliant daisy underneath beaming rays of sunlight.
For one small moment, I felt like I belonged, that I was wanted and needed. I felt something like love.
The thick walls, heavily reinforced with steel, weapons, and a convoy of alpha males, make me feel more secure than I’ve felt in a long time.
My brother is brutal and ruthless, but he’s only one person. Only one.
“Ollie,” I say tentatively as the car comes to a stop.
“Yeah?”
“Do I have to talk to everyone now? I don’t want to see any of them, especially since we’re getting married.”
He looks out the window and gives me a curt nod. “I’ll get out first and make sure we have privacy.”
I feel strangely emotional as I watch him exit the car and walk straight toward the front door, his mouth already up to his phone.
I don’t know what he’s saying, but he looks serious as his lips purse, and he gets into a heated discussion. Finally, after a moment, he heads back my way, opens the door, and unlocks the handcuffs. “Coast is clear. Let’s go.”
“Can I just get some rest first?” I ask as I walk beside him. I’m on edge, expecting one of his many siblings to come find us or, at the very least, some of his younger nieces or nephews, but thankfully, we’re alone as we head inside.
“You can see a doctor first,” he says in a tone of voice that brooks no argument. “Before anything else happens. I won’t make you socialize or anything like that, but you do have to take your health seriously.”
I grumble under my breath. I don’t want to see a doctor. I’ve been to hell and back and want a warm bed and time alone to process what I’m doing next.
“Renata,” he growls under his breath.
“What?”
“I’m not going to let you fuck around with your physical health.”
“I got a scratch on my arm. It’s hardly in need of amputation. Mikhail told you to make sure I see a doctor, and God knows you can’t go against anything he tells you to do.” I don’t know why I’m being so ornery. It isn’t like me. Honestly, it isn’t.
“Is that Renata?” I hear his sister Polina’s voice in the background, but someone quickly hushes her.
“After some rest, you will have to see them,” he says. “There’s no getting around that, you know.”
“I know.”
I can’t get past the fact that they all think I betrayed them.
I want so badly to be a part of this family. I want them to know they can trust me, but I'm not sure how to reveal the truth about my brother and what I know about the Romanov family. I have to pretend I am the enemy, even if it will kill me.
"We're going to the bedroom,” he begins. I swallow hard. It feels intimate and dangerous to be alone with him. He continues, undisturbed. “You’ll see the doctor. I'll make sure you get food and something to drink, then you can take a shower and rest. But for now, don't fuck around."
It's the smartest thing to do because even though we are on fairly friendly terms at the moment, I have seen firsthand how quickly that can change.
He leads me to the third floor, a place I've never been. The house is huge and often bustling, but the married men have homes of their own now, so it’s not as chaotic now as it once had been. Mikhail and Aleksandr, the two oldest brothers, are firmly established and married with children. They own houses not far from here. The third brother, Nikko, married Vera Ivanova, a doctor often stationed overseas in various countries. He travels with her. Viktor and his wife, Lydia, also live nearby, but not quite as close as Mikhail and Aleksandr. Lev and Isabella go back and forth between New York and Colombia.
Ollie is the only one who doesn't live on his own.
Before I was taken back to Colombia, we would talk about this. I wanted to know what his plan was, what he dreamed of, and he wanted to know mine as well. He told me, in great detail, and it meant something to me that I was his confidante.