Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Running from my problems won’t solve anything.
I must face them head-on, and now is as good a time as any to start.
18
NATALYA
The pump of my stiletto barely scrapes the fringe of the rug under my bed when my door shoots open, and Saka enters at the speed of a bullet.
“Hey,” I greet, like standing in the middle of my room in nothing but a trench coat and a pair of stilettos is normal. My bra and panties are still on the floor of Matvei’s office, along with ninety-nine-point-nine percent of my dignity.
I thought I was a goner when he ravished me on his desk, but just as the wheels started coming off the carriage, a reminder that selfishness loses you more than your morals saw the nuts tightened and my ruse continuing without fault.
I survived the blast.
The verdict is still out on how I will handle the aftershocks.
I won’t lie. The adrenaline my ruse sparked is addictive. It is almost on par with the wish to be screwed senseless by Matvei. I’ve never felt more alive.
When the strong scent of testosterone overtakes the lust slicking my skin, I shift my focus to Saka and ask, “Is everything okay?”
He scans my room before nodding. “Yeah. Just thought I heard something.” He returns his eyes to my face. “Why are you standing?”
I lick my lips, which are salty with sweat. “Reception is shitty. I was about to check the router.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the router.”
“Are you sure?” My tone is bitchy, but I don’t hold back. He deserves my anger as much as Matvei does. “Perhaps you should check it. They’re prone to playing up when too many devices log on simultaneously.”
“There aren’t too many devices,” Saka replies, his tone drenched with deceit. “Only mine, yours, and Taylor's.”
And the hundred hidden cameras you planted in my room and on my clothing.
Taylor let slip about the bugs Saka placed on my clothes, but Matvei’s fury when I left him high and dry an hour ago revealed how many cameras are really monitoring my room.
Matvei was pissed when I stopped our hot and heavy make-out session on his desk to breathlessly demand he sheath his cock with protection. I told him I wasn’t on birth control, and although the Step B I took earlier today might protect us from a second mishap, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Matvei believed me, but since he didn’t have any condoms in his office, thank god, he went to check Maksim’s.
He was barely gone for two minutes, but it was enough time for me to wipe the email from his inbox and hard drive, block his source’s address from his contact list, and corrupt the files he had on Tyler and his family stored on the hotel’s server.
His search even gave me a thirty-second head start on my getaway.
I ensured not to use the concierge this time around. I walked to a less affluent side of Kronstadt before hitchhiking a ride home.
Matvei’s anger about my disappearance had nothing on my fury when he threatened to do more than spank me if I didn’t answer one of his numerous texts.
Matvei:
Where the fuck are you, Natalya?
And if you lie to me again, the contents of the box you left on my desk will be the least of your problems.
I will tear this god forbidden town apart to find you, and I won’t leave a single stone intact.
Saka. Taylor. Polina. No one who tries to come between us will be left standing.
Once I’d clambered out of the passenger seat of an elderly gentleman’s truck who accepted payment for the ride with a smile, I was only steps from home, so I replied to Matvei that I was safe and home.
That’s when he sent through image after image of my empty room.
His last snapshot boiled my blood. It showed Saka sitting on the couch in my living room with a tablet balancing on his thigh. The tablet had what appeared to be a live recording of my room. Except it wasn’t live. It was taken weeks ago, right before Sookie ripped a hole in my favorite sweatshirt while claiming it as his own.
“Is that all?” I ask Saka when he remains standing in my room, hogging the oxygen with his natural arrogance.
I’m angry and sexually frustrated, but more than anything, I need a moment to decompress the shock that my head overruled my libido for the first time. Now is not the time for him to lecture or interrogate me.
“Yeah.” Saka heads for the door before spinning back around. “Are you sure you’re okay?” With his lips twisted, he drinks in my outfit. “You’re wearing a coat like it isn’t hotter than hell in here.” Suspicion blazes through his eyes. “Is it new?”
“Yes,” I reply, speaking through a tight jaw. “That’s why I’m wearing it in, so it won’t be stiff when I parade it for real.” When his brows furrow, I mutter, “Every girl does it. Ask Taylor if you don’t believe me.”