Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
“The only thing he’s crazy about is thinking I will let this slide. It is two in the morning. No one has business meetings at two in the morning.”
When she snatches up a chair from the dining room and wedges it under the door handle, I can’t help but laugh. That will keep a man like Maksim out for only thirty seconds. If that.
My smile slips when the beep of a key card being scanned over an electronic lock sounds into the penthouse. The door handle jingles before a commanding yet surprisingly in control voice says, “Nikita, open the door. I know you’re there. I can see your shadow under the door.” Maksim tests the lock again before adding, “You have twenty minutes. If you’re not in my bed in twenty minutes, I will come get you.”
I wait for Maksim’s shadow to disappear from underneath the door before asking, “What are you going to do?”
Nikita shrugs. “Nothing. I’m not going to do a damn thing.”
It takes me a minute, and when the truth finally smacks into me, everything makes sense.
“You want him to fight for your attention. You’re disappointed he didn’t knock down that door and drag you to his bed.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I want to sleep on the same sheets he just messed with another woman?”
“Because you know he didn’t do anything.” I can’t believe I missed the signs for so many years. “I get it. I understand why you feel this way. But you need to stop punishing every guy you meet for something your dad did. He chose to go after the people who hurt your mom, knowing it would take him away from you as well. Maksim—”
“Is a stranger! So stop acting like he isn’t!”
When she races to her room, a soft hand shoots out, halting me from going after her.
“It’ll be okay,” Aleena whispers like she’s well-versed on arrogant, dominant men.
She’s right. Only seconds later, I hear a manly voice say, “Twenty minutes was far too generous.”
My mouth gapes when Nikita’s door pops open and Maksim walks out with her tossed over his shoulder and whacking into his back. She kicks and hits him while screaming to be placed down. There’s no steam in her fight, no heat, because he is reacting exactly as she had hoped.
“I so want that,” I murmur to myself.
My eyes sling to Aleena when she says, “Then why aren’t you doing everything you can to have it?” I poke my tongue at her when she giggles. “If that’s what you were endeavoring to do when you were air-humping Mikhail’s crotch from three feet away, you need to devise another tactic. That was more PG appropriate than having your mother chaperone your prom date.” I realize I could possibly be a bad influence when she quotes, “If you want to make a man tick, get him thinking with his dick.”
She smiles when I groan. She can. She doesn’t understand how jealous Andrik is. When his green head rears, he’s like a bull in a china shop. But also, she’s right. If I want to coerce Andrik out of hiding, I need more than a risqué hemline and slutty shoes.
As Andrik would say, I have to play this game with the integrity it deserves.
“Drink this.” I thrust a bottle of water into Aleena’s chest before tossing her pain medication and a vitamin B tablet. “Swallow these. And then wish me luck. I’m going to need it.”
“I doubt it,” she replies, tripling my confidence. “But I will give it to you anyway.” She throws her arm in the air and shouts like a cheerleader. “Good luck!”
I am so pumped with nervous recklessness that I make it to the hotel lobby in the blink of an eye. Have you ever driven the same route over and over again that it is only after you put the car in park that you wonder how the hell you got there in one piece? That’s what I’m experiencing now.
One minute, I am racing for the door of the penthouse suite.
The next minute, I’m entering the hotel bar, seeking Mikhail amongst the crowd.
I have the pick of a dozen men, but Mikhail is the only one I am certain will survive my ruse, so I veer my steps toward him.
“Hey, Suns—”
I cut him off by pressing our lips together.
I’m not going to lie. Our kiss is awkward as fuck. There’s no tongue. No heat. Not a single spark fires between us. It is the equivalent of kissing Grampies.
It has the effect I am aiming for, however.
Out of nowhere, and with the roar of a deranged man, Andrik rips me away from Mikhail before his fist cracks his little brother’s nose.
As the crowd pulls back to create a UFC ring, Andrik plows his fists into Mikhail’s face and body. He gets in five or six non-contested whacks before Mikhail realizes what is happening.