Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Facebook.
Instagram.
Snapchat.
The signs of course disappeared five minutes later.
And I sat, in absolute hell minus one lab partner.
Staring at a paper that I couldn’t seem to read because I was so sick to my stomach over what I’d seen, over the way they’d treated a stranger.
So, he scared my missing lab partner. Big. Deal.
How was I the whore?
My stomach clenched more as a girl walked by me and placed a drawing on my desk.
I assumed it was me.
And I was bending over in front of him.
I shoved it away.
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
Because hadn’t that been the truth this morning?
And then he’d ignored me.
Only to kiss me again when he thought I was hurt.
I was so confused, so upset that I almost didn’t notice the hush that descended over the room twenty minutes later.
My hair stood on end as I slowly turned.
Andrei walked through the door, a look of complete rage rendering his features terrifying as he locked eyes on me, and then he crossed his arms and stood in the middle of the room.
The door opened again.
Tex Campisi walked in.
If a pin had dropped, it wouldn’t dare have made a sound.
I could have sworn the guy next to me started praying.
Nixon was next, his smile cruel as he stared at everyone like they were his next meal.
Dante sauntered in.
The room erupted in mad whispers.
Phoenix followed.
The whispers stopped.
Sergio was next, his swagger confident, his eyes locking on mine with purpose I didn’t understand.
And then finally, Chase Abandonato.
The murderer of my family line made his way into the room with blood splatters on his shirt and a knife in his hands.
The professor didn’t blink.
He yawned and pulled out the newspaper and read as if the most powerful men in the crime world weren’t just hanging out in Econ.
Andrei raked the room with his gaze. “This isn’t a game.”
People looked away.
“Fucking look at me when I’m talking!” he roared.
A girl in front started bawling.
And the guy who Andrei had stopped next to shook so violently his desk started to move.
“Insult what’s mine again, and we’ll be transporting you in body bags. Do. You. Understand. Me?”
Heads nodded.
“Chase.” Andrei said his name through clenched teeth. “A demonstration.”
Chase’s eyes roamed across the room until he finally stopped on a guy who was looking down at his lap. “You. Stand.”
The guy blinked up at him, his face pale. Slowly, he stood on shaking legs.
“What’s your name?”
“P-peter.” The guy’s voice cracked.
“Peter.” Chase crossed his arms over his chest. “All right Peter, I’m going to give the class thirty seconds to tell me who started the signs or I’m going to cut off a finger. It seems to be a fair trade to me… One.”
As he counted, people shied away.
“Fifteen.”
Nobody was standing.
“Sixteen.”
I didn’t want them to suffer because of me.
It was my fault.
“Twenty.”
Shit.
Tears filled my eyes as I glanced around the room. This wasn’t their world; this wasn’t their war!
“Twenty-eight.”
“Me.” I jumped to my feet.
An explosion of shocks and whispers filled the room. “I didn’t start it, but it’s my fault for being who I am. It’s always going to haunt me like it haunts you, don’t involve people whose blood will never be worth spilling. The cost is too great… even to someone like you.”
And to my utter surprise, Chase Abandonato… smiled. “That will be the lesson for today folks. The reason she’s with us is because she’s the only fucking person in this room willing to make the hard choice. The only girl in this room who gives eye contact. And the only girl in this room worthy of the Petrov name.”
Andrei stepped forward and put a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Beautifully said.”
“I practiced.”
“It shows.” Tex barked out a laugh. “Let’s go, Little Petrov. Class is dismissed early, and I have a hankering for a burger.”
“Oh shit, I could use some fries,” Chase grumbled.
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
The rest of the class seemed frozen.
So, I grabbed my things and slowly made the achingly painful walk to the front of the room. Andrei wrapped an arm around me then pulled me against his chest and kissed the fear and shame right out of my body, replacing it with something else, something that felt a lot like acceptance and hope all wrapped up in love.
Something that was… warm.
“Let’s go, dorogaya.”
I’d arrived at Eagle Elite with a guard.
And left.
With an army.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Andrei
We’d driven separately.
I sent Ax with the rest of the guys.
Mentally thanked them for standing by my side when I forwarded them the text Ax had sent me as he scrolled through the Eagle Elite social media accounts.
The anger I felt in seeing those words directed at her.
At mine.
Was enough to set me off for the next decade.
It was enough for me to pack enough ammo to take out the entire city block.
It was enough for me, Andrei Petrov, to humbly ask for help.