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)
“Matvei…” When the world swirls around me, he dumps the pizza and Sprite on the ground, then grabs the tops of my arms. “It’s too much too soon.”
“Says you.”
“Says the world! You don’t understand that I come with more baggage than a divorce. There are people after me—”
“Who I will end if they try to hurt you.”
I continue speaking as if he didn’t interrupt me. “And they’ll hurt you to get to me. Bastian’s sons are out for blood. They want revenge because they think I killed their father.”
Matvei’s roar drags me out of my stupor, not to mention the fury on his face. “What? You’re hiding because of them? Because of the family he abandoned for his own selfish needs?”
He doesn’t give me a chance to answer. After extracting the truth from my face, he marches me to the car, his mood so hot and temperamental it scorches the skin on my lower back.
There’s no lovemaking on our drive back to the boutique. No playful touches and whispered words. Matvei is so distant and cold that for the first time, I’m eager to place distance between us.
“Wait for Haynes to collect you tonight,” Matvei requests when the driver pulls onto the curb outside the boutique. “I’ll meet you at your apartment.”
Not thinking, I nod before pressing my lips to the edge of his mouth and hightailing it out of his vehicle.
He orders the driver to leave long before Polina greets me with a friendly hug. She looks happy and healthy, so I feed off her energy as long as I can before my curiosity gets the best of me.
“Can you track Matvei’s whereabouts for me?”
Saka arches a brow but waits for me to elaborate before taking a bite from the bait I’m dangling in front of him. Even with them having similar backgrounds, Saka knows he is dangerous. It is his ability to protect me that endears him to Saka more than them being previous comrades.
Too curious for my own good, I bluff over my deceitfulness with a half lie. “He recently purchased a new property. I’m just trying to work out if I should surprise him there after work or at the hotel.”
“Didn’t he organize for Haynes to pick you up tonight?”
I shake my head, preferring to lie without words.
“Oh.” Saka’s eyes are full of suspicion. “I guess I could take a look. Do you have his cell phone number?”
“You don’t have it?” I ask while digging my phone out of the bottom drawer.
“Not his real number.” I hate my inquisitiveness when he says, “That is reserved solely for you.” He jots down the number that’s been avoiding my messages for the past three hours onto a piece of paper before storing away his pen. “Will you be okay here for around an hour?”
Loving his trust as much as I am the playfulness of his words, I jerk up my chin. “But will an hour be enough?”
He hits me with a frisky wink. “Probably not.” His smile announces I was on the money with there being a teasing edge to his voice. “But it should tie her over until dinner.”
After another playful wink, he hotfoots it outside.
“I’m glad things are back on track with you two.”
The loved-up nature of Polina’s reply makes me want to barf. With a rush of clients for an event tonight keeping us run off our feet, I haven’t had a chance to tell her about the developments occurring at a rate almost as fast as her budding relationship with Yev. They seem solid, almost couple-like.
Dying to drill her of the deets, I spin to Yev and ask, “Would you mind doing me a favor before you leave?”
“Sure.” His eyes shift to Polina before a grin tugs his lips high. “I’m keen to learn the ropes.”
Lost as to the cause of Polina’s flaming red cheeks, I make out that the boxes Polina rummaged through weeks ago toppled overnight. “If you could stack them for me, that would be great.”
Eager to please, Yev nods again before asking, “Storage room is…?”
“It’s the third door on the left.”
He’s barely out of eyesight before I shift on my feet to face Polina.
“Don’t start,” she snaps out, halving my eagerness but not entirely killing it.
“I didn’t say anything.” I follow her slow walk around the boutique. She looks like a shepherd checking her flock.
“You don’t need to speak for me to hear your dirty thoughts.” Her finger whizzes around my face. “They’re all displayed here.”
“So that’s why men follow me around the club like lost puppies?” When I recall the almost punishment of my last admirer, I say with a sigh, “I just need to find one who’s super squishy on the inside but rough and rugged on the outside.” As I peer up at the camera following our track, I ask, “Does Yev have a brother?” Regret barely crosses Polina’s face when I realize how much of an idiot I am. I wanted to get back at Matvei for his silence, but instead, I reminded Polina why Yev had been absent the past six months. “I’m a complete idiot. Will you forgive me?”