Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
As soon as his eyes meet mine, I feel a jolt of unease. His gaze is cold, assessing, and with a hint of displeasure I know all too well. It’s the same look he’s given me so many times before, the one that makes me feel small, inadequate, and a failure.
His eyes narrow just a fraction. “You got what I asked of you?”
Hostility radiates from him, and my mind races. For a second, I’m confused with what he’s saying, but it dawns on me. The information on Nikolai.
“I don’t have it.”
“You’ve been here for almost a month.” His tone is accusing, and it doesn’t even bother him that Nikolai’s staff can hear every word he says.
The same anger that flared when I had lunch with Allie and my sisters surges within me. I spent years bending over backward to please him and meet his impossible standard, and he didn’t even bother visiting my mother at the hospital when she got sick. I initially thought it was out of the goodness of his heart—what’s left of it anyway—that he took me under his wing, clothed me, fed me, and paid for my studies.
Later on, I learned he wanted something—or someone—to bargain with the Petrovs. All his daughters were married, except for me. Father is many things, but he definitely doesn’t lack foresight.
“I’m not going to do it.” The anger grows, overtaking the anxiety that gripped me just moments ago and giving me the strength I didn’t know I had. “I won’t betray my husband.”
“Your husband.” His smirk is cruel and meant to make me tremble in fear, but he doesn’t have that effect on me anymore. I have Nikolai.
“I love him.” The words are out before I realize, but I don’t take them back since it’s the truth.
I see a flicker of surprise in his eyes before he tosses his head back and laughs. It’s cold and biting, laced with a venomous edge that makes discomfort crawl across my skin. He walks to me and raises his hand. “You love him? What kind of a whore loves a monster?”
The words are like a slap, but the raised hand makes me flinch. Before I can react, however, Nikolai has him in a chokehold, forcing his massive arm against Father’s neck.
Father’s face turns red, and he rakes his nails at Nikolai. But my husband pays him no mind, his intense gaze landing on me. He says in a calm voice, “Are you all right, Nina?”
I nod, unable to form words as Father looks like he’s about to pass out. Nikolai loosens his hold and growls, “I will give you the same ultimatum I gave my brother. If you try anything with my wife, I will put you in so much pain, you’ll be begging me for your death. And even in death, you will not go peacefully. I’ll make sure your final seconds on Earth will break you.”
Father gasps as he sucks in the air. “H-how dare you talk to me like this? I’m her fath—”
Nikolai turns him around so they’re facing each other. “My wife has no father. She only has me and the people in my household. People who actually care about her. You cannot sell her to the highest bidder and still call yourself a father.”
Even as Nikolai clearly overpowers him, Father jabs a finger at him. “You won’t get away with this. I have an army!”
“And I will have no qualms slaughtering each and every one of them. If you value your life, you’ll stay as far away from my wife as possible.”
His face is flushed with anger, the veins in his neck standing and bulging like twisted cords. His teeth are bared as his voice rises to a fever pitch. “You don’t tell me what to do!”
Nikolai’s face splits into a grin. “No, but your friend, Boris, can.”
This silences my father, and he staggers back, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. “Y-you…”
“You forget who you’re dealing with. You forget what I do in our business.”
When he whips his head to me, Father’s face transforms. Instead of fury, he’s pale, eyebrows drawing together and creating deep lines on his forehead. He continues to back away, clutching his chest. Without another word, he dashes outside toward his car.
The engine roars to life, the tires screeching against the gravel.
The suddenness of it all leaves me stunned and bewildered, but Nikolai’s eyes are full of concern as he grazes my cheek with his knuckle. “Nina, are you okay?”
“Y-yes.” I grab his hand and hold it between mine. “I have a confession to make. He asked me to spy on you, but I didn’t do it. Even as I explored your house, I didn’t give him what he wanted. I promise.”
His gaze softens, and his mouth coasts over my temple, pressing a kiss on my forehead. “I know, little wife.”