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)
“Then why isn’t he here doing this?”
She balks as if I physically slapped her when I snap out, “The fact you think anyone here cares about you is laughable. You’re a nobody. A captive. A slave. You are here for one reason and one reason only, and if you can’t give us that, you’ll be buried in the same garden his last three wives were dumped in, so you want to pray that test comes back positive because it is the only thing keeping you alive.”
I don’t know if I am insanely turned on or ropeable when she snarls out in Russian, “Fuck you.”
“What did you say?”
When I storm for her, she doesn’t blink. She stares me straight in the eyes while repeating the words she would have been too scared to speak only weeks ago. “Fuck. You.”
Katie sucks in a quick, long draw when my hand shoots up to the column of her neck, but that is the only protest her body displays when I commence punishing her ignorance. She doesn’t fight me or claw at my hand with her nails. She holds my gaze, which shows no fear whatsoever, not even as her pulse fades from my hold.
Fucking fight, I want to scream at her. If you bow now, you’ll never get back up. But I can’t release the words from my mouth, and I can’t look out for more people than I already am. The plate is full. Sofia and Lera take up all the room.
With a roar, I remove my hand curled around her throat and put it through the mirror behind her head. It shatters into a million pieces and circles the floor around her feet with dangerous shards of glass.
To ensure she can’t mistake the cold-hearted bastard I am, I smirk at the nicks the falling debris caused her delicate skin before repeating, “Dip the test into the urine and wait two minutes. I’ll send someone to get the results later.”
I stop partway to the door when Katie whispers, “Alek.”
“No.” I crank my neck back to look at her. “You seem to have attachment issues.” I drop my eyes to her stomach. “I suggest you bring that to heel before you’re severely disappointed.”
30
KATIE
My heart hurts more than my neck. Ghost’s grip was painful, but his stare was more hurtful than anything. He glared at me as if he hates me and I’m the cause of all his worries.
If the two lines on the pregnancy test are anything to go by, maybe I am.
“Kate.” I drift my eyes from the positive test to the doorway where Alek’s voice projected from. “What the fuck?” he murmurs to himself when his eyes drink in the smashed mirror and my nicked feet. “Was this a result of that?” He locks his eyes on the positive pregnancy test, cursing when he takes in how strong the result is.
I shake my head, my brain too confused for a better response.
“What happens now?” I ask when silence is the only thing that passes between us for the next several minutes.
Alek shrugs. “I don’t handle this side of the trade.”
I want to vomit for the second time for the way he says ‘trade.’
I truly am only a commodity here.
“At least this will give Ghost some time.” I can’t hold back the urge to release the little nutrients in my stomach when he murmurs, “They brought in your replacements yesterday. They were settled in last night.”
So that’s why I heard sobbing.
From my crouched position next to the toilet bowl, I ask, “Who… um… who’s in charge of them?”
I shouldn’t be jealous about Ghost’s attention being shifted to another of Kirill’s many brides. However, I am.
“The docs took care of them last night, but it is usually Ghost’s job.” Hearing the groan I couldn’t conceal, Alek shakes his head to hide his grin. “The fact you think he has a choice in the matter shows you’re as clueless as him.” When I peer up at him, blinking and mute, he murmurs, “He’s not here to torture you, Kate.” I stray my eyes across the splintered glass for barely a second before the scrub of his hand over his chin returns my focus to him. “He is all she has. She would have been dead years ago if he hadn’t stepped up to the plate.”
Now there’s no doubt jealousy is heating my veins. It makes me hot and clammy at the same time, which is utter lunacy since I’m in a bathroom surrounded by glass and with a bruised neck.
“Lera is four.” His chuckles about my bulging eyes bouncing around the bathroom. “So the only competition you’ll get from her is the wish to live.”
Reading between the lines, I whisper, “I’m not playing Ghost to stay alive.”
My eyes shoot up to Alek when he replies, “I know. But he has so many people doing exactly that, he can’t tell the liars from the cheats.”