Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“I don’t need to go to the gym,” she said.
“You don’t know how to protect yourself. You haven’t taken any self-defense classes, nor do you know how to shoot a gun. You’re a giant pain in the ass, and now that you’re my fiancée, there is a nice little price tag on your head.”
“I don’t need to learn those things.” She had seen what it had done to her brother—killing at a young age—and she didn’t want any part of it. “Like my dad said, there will always be a guard in place.”
“And if the guards are taken out? There always has to be a Plan B, Galina. Whether you like it or not, you need to learn to protect yourself.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Okay, so what if our enemies don’t kill you?” Mikhail asked.
“That makes no sense. They would kill me. I’m the enemy.”
“Yeah, but you’re also valuable. You’re my wife, and some people would exploit that. They would do anything and everything to get what they wanted. Could you handle hours of torture? What if they wanted to get information out of you?”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then pressed her lips together.
“Do you think you could handle that?” he asked.
“Why would they even try to get information out of me?” she asked. “It would be pointless.”
“Some men share with their wives, Galina. Not often, but it happens.”
She glanced down at the rest of her breakfast, suddenly not feeling very hungry. When she denied the self-defense classes and the shooting practice, it had been because of Peter. She didn’t want to risk going the same way, so she fought it, now, it seemed rather immature to have done so.
****
His building had a gym, a pool, as well as game rooms, and many other facilities. Mikhail wasn’t the only one to live in the building. They had multiple associates, as well as family members, some close, others not, and some soldiers. Boris Belsky wouldn’t allow his son to be alone, or at any kind of risk.
Standing in the gym, there was no one around, and he’d been sure to send a message that this floor was off limits for the day.
Galina, the stubborn woman, was still in that old shirt, but it wouldn’t be long before he took it off.
“Tell me, Galina, what do you know about self-defense?” he asked.
“Nothing. You know that.”
“Self-defense doesn’t have to be what the professionals say.” He walked toward her, took her hand, and led her onto the mat.
“Isn’t that the whole point of taking a self-defense class?”
“There are all different kind of levels. You just need to know which one you’re at.” He looked at her, seeing she was uncomfortable.
Peter told him he had a feeling the reason Galina didn’t want to learn any of this was because of what happened to him.
Mikhail wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Galina, but he’d be a fool not to prepare for it. They had enemies everywhere, and they were always looking for a weakness. He wanted Galina to be able to protect herself, always.
“I’m going to attack you. I want you to figure out how to get rid of me,” Mikhail said.
“Wait, attack how?”
He grabbed her from behind, trapped her arms by her side, and stopped her from being able to move. She released a scream and started trying to wriggle. Now, he applied some pressure, making it impossible for her to stay on her feet because his weight was pushing her down. Galina had no choice but to fall to her knees, drop down, and then he had her on her front, locked beneath him, unable to move.
“That … isn’t … funny,” she said.
He chuckled. “But effective. You’ve got a lot to learn, Galina.” Kissing her cheek, he let her go and stood up.
Seconds later, she got to her feet.
“Now, lets see if you can escape me. I’m the enemy, run!”
She tried to take off, and just as he predicted, the shirt was easy to catch, and he was able to pull her in close, wrap his arms around her, and take her back down to the floor, as if she weighed nothing.
“Ugh! Again,” Galina said.
They kept doing the same dance, and her shirt hindered her. Not once, but four times. Mikhail got what he wanted, though. As soon as she realized that the shirt was the problem, she pulled it off and threw it across the room.
“There, the shirt is off, happy now?”
“I’d be happy if you were completely naked.”
She shook her head. “Not a chance! Tell me how I can stop you from grabbing me.”
“You’re thinking too hard. You’ve got to stop thinking like you know what you’re doing, and start just … doing. Act on instinct.”
“You want me to play dirty?”
“Do you think our enemies aren’t going to fight dirty? If they attack, do you think they’re going to look down at their watches and give you a thirty-second head start? Trust me, they’re not.”