Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
“Pure?”
His sigh gobbles up the first half of his reply, “Would they be here if they weren’t?” My jaw is already tight, but it firms even more when he adds, “One is for you. Two are replacements.”
My eyes snap to Alek during his last sentence, “He said she had a month. It’s only been three weeks.” I don’t know who the man is speaking when I say, “He can also keep his whore. I don’t want her.” Only four months ago, I would have never spoken such words.
“You either accept her or donate her to the trade.”
“Donate her to—”
Alek’s growl cuts me off. He’s pissed as fuck, and not afraid to show it.
“Did I ask your opinion?”
A blond lock that’s freed itself from his manbun falls into his eyes when he pffts me. “Nah, but if you had, I would have told you to keep her the fuck away from him.” He’s no longer looking at the latest baby-making machines for Kirill. He’s watching my sister.
His stare startles Sofia enough, she closes the shutters, then returns to her room.
“Sofia is not a part of this.”
Alek has the hide to mock me with laughter. If it were any other man, he’d be dead. “Time to take off the rose-colored glasses, Ghost.” He pats my back before instructing the latest inmates to follow him. “Food and lodging is supplied, but you’ll need to do more than chores to remain a tenant at our fine establishment.” He picks out the woman with the closest features to Katie before hooking his thumb to me. “Except you. You only need to listen to him.”
I won’t lie. When she stops in front of me with pleading eyes, my cock twitches. Its throb only lasts as long as it takes me to slide my eyes down her body. She’s shaking like a leaf and not an ounce of determination is seen in her eyes.
She’s lackluster and boring.
I’d rather continue stroking my cock to the image of Katie sleeping than claim this woman’s virginity.
“Go with him.” I gesture for one of the guards at the front to join us. When he does, I instruct, “Take her to housekeeping. If she proves her worth, she can stay there for as long as she likes.”
“Thank you,” the woman whispers, her voice heavily accented.
She won’t be thanking me when she realizes the housekeeping staff works eighteen hours a day. Not even a whore does those types of shifts.
Katie’s eyes lift to mine when I enter her bedroom. She’s curled up on a single couch like a cat slumbering in the middle of the day.
“Where are the doctors?”
She shrugs before stretching out. “I don’t know.” As quickly as relief crosses her face, it is replaced with hope. “D-did you bring it?” Worry flares through her eyes when she holds them to mine, but not once do they float to her shoes.
A smile that shouldn’t be anywhere near as bright since we’re in a windowless room gleams when I pull a photograph out of my jacket pocket and slide it across the two-seater dining table.
She leaps off the couch and snatches up the image before I can blink. “Where was this taken? She looks happy.” Her eyes float over a recent image of her sister before they lift to mine. “Does she look happy to you?”
When she spins the photograph around to face me, I say, “She looks like you.”
Unaware that isn’t a good thing, she murmurs, “She does.”
After drinking in the image for almost a minute, she hides it between her mattress and the bedside table. I almost reprimand her for being sneaky before I remember it could be the last thing she’ll do.
“He is getting restless.” She knows who I’m speaking about simply from how I pronounced ‘he.’ “He is seeking a new wife,” I answer the question I see in her eyes. “If he finds one, you will no longer be required.”
“You mean I’ll be dead.”
It is the wrong time for me to relish her spunk, but it can’t be helped.
Her eyes shift from my mouth to my eyes when I reply, “Yes.”
“What will happen to Hailey?”
“Nothing,” I lie.
There are no guarantees with Kirill. Everyone is a mark.
My smirk returns when she murmurs, “You’re a terrible liar.” She plucks out the photograph she just hid before plonking her backside onto her bed. “At least she won’t die a virgin.” She’s making light of the situation so she won’t show fear. “She’s in love. That’s why she looks like this.” Her eyes remain locked on the image when she murmurs, “Is that why you said she looks like me?” In the quietness of her room, her swallow is audible. “Do you think I’m in love?”
“Don’t, маленький ягненок.”
“I don’t want to die,” she confesses, acknowledging the real reason she wants me to believe she is in love with a monster.