Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Fire,” said the guard. “Three different places, some injuries at one of them.”
I turned back to Christina. She was flushing, trying to cover her nakedness with her hands. I pulled off my suit jacket and put it round her. “Get the car,” I told the guard. “We’re going out.” He ran off.
Christina dressed and it was like a reverse strip-tease: little glimpses of bare thigh and curling dark hair as she pulled on her panties, a flash of nipple and soft flesh as she put on her bra. It had me even harder in my pants than when she’d undressed because it was as if her nakedness was being taken from me. By the time she put on her sweater, I was almost panting. What the hell is wrong with me? I like sex, I especially like sex with Christina, but this was something else. I needed her.
Standing on one leg to put on her heels, she overbalanced. Her hand went to my arm to steady herself and... something happened to me. The sight of her small hand there, the feel of her touching me...it made something swell in my chest. I put my hand on hers, unable to speak.
She looked up at me, blushing and confused, and I stared down into her eyes. She seemed so light, so good. Innocent, not like Christina at all. I didn’t understand it.
I shook my head. “You’re still my shlyukha,” I muttered. “But now....” I ran my other hand over her cheek, pushing her hair back, and frowned. “You’re my golub, too.”
She frowned.
“My dove,” I told her. Then I shook my head. “Come on.”
She quickly slipped her other shoe on. “I don’t have to come. I mean...I understand, if it’s business.”
I felt myself soften again. She was trying to make it right, after asking me about Ralavich in my study. As if we were a real couple who’d had a fight. And she was right: she didn’t need to come with me, she shouldn’t come with me. But…. “No,” I said firmly. “You’re coming.”
She nodded, but cocked her head to one side. Why?
And suddenly it just burst out of me, before I could stop it. “Because I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
We both stared at each other, me twice as shocked as her. Then I turned and marched towards the door. What’s going on? I’d allowed this relationship to happen because I knew I’d never feel anything for Christina, because she was as cold as I was. But now….
Now, she made me weak.
23
Hailey
LESS THAN TEN MINUTES later, we were in the back of the black Mercedes, speeding into the city. My body was still throbbing and shaky, my mind whirling.
He’d called me his dove. My chest went light, when I thought of that. I tried to crush it back down. This is Konstantin Gulyev. He doesn’t have a soft side.
We were driving in convoy, with a big black SUV full of guards in front of us and another behind. As we passed through neighborhoods Konstantin didn’t control, I saw criminals start to flee. A pimp suddenly darted into an alley, leaving the women he’d been talking to behind. A dealer turned and sprinted, dropping a packet of drugs behind him and not stopping to pick it up. They must think Konstantin was arriving to take over, but why were they so scared of him? Weren’t criminals all ultimately on the same side?
Then we reached one of the neighborhoods he did control. And instead of fear, I saw...relief. The people out at night here weren’t criminals, they were people out walking their dogs or on their way to and from bars. They nodded respectfully as we passed. A young couple were walking together and I saw the woman squeeze her partner’s hand as she saw us. It’s okay now. That seemed to be the mood. It’s okay, now. He’s here.
Half a block further on, the street had been closed off. Three separate buildings were ablaze and the fronts were so badly damaged, it took me a while to figure out that one of them used to be a restaurant, one a bar and one a nightclub.
We pulled up behind the fire department’s barricade and climbed out. A crowd of people had gathered to watch, but they parted immediately to let us pass. The fire department were doing their best but all three places were infernos, the heat so intense that I could feel it on my skin, even from all the way back here. The interiors looked to already be completely gutted. How could a fire take hold that fast? In three different buildings?
And then I saw the fury on Konstantin’s face and kicked myself for being so naive. These fires weren’t accidental.
A man raced up to Konstantin. His expensive suit was singed on the cuffs and his shirt was smudged with soot. “We got everyone out,” he said breathlessly. His accent was a thicker, heavier version of Konstantin’s. Then he started coughing and couldn’t stop.