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)
I laugh when she grunts. It is either laugh or let the stupid emotions that have been hammering me nonstop over the past several weeks win. I’d rather look like an idiot laughing at my own jokes than cry in public.
After taking a moment to center myself, I reenter the elevator and select the top floor. My arrival has already been thwarted, so I may as well make the most out of the distance between the security officers in the lobby and me.
I ride several floors before a cough forces my eyes from the floor for the first time in minutes. I can only see shadows in the brushed steel panels of the elevator, but I don’t need mirrored walls to recognize who the cough belongs to. The prickling of the hairs on my nape tells the story.
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No,” I reply, unwilling to turn around in case I say something stupid. “Well, I’m assuming he doesn’t. I had to break cover to take a phone call. One of your tenants on the seventieth floor is very voluptuous.”
Andrik’s huffed chuckle tickles the hairs his presence stood to attention. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Probably because she isn’t of breeding age.” I snap my mouth shut, inwardly cuss, then twist to face him. “I’m sorry. I’m an asshole who rarely thinks before speaking.”
My guilt worsens when I take in his thick beard, unkempt hair, and sunken eyes. Don’t get me wrong. He is still the most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on, but he looks exhausted.
Has he slept at all in the past two weeks?
I step closer, crossing over into the danger zone before asking, “Are you ok—”
I’m interrupted by the ding of the elevator announcing we have arrived at Mikhail’s floor.
After tightening his jaw like the gesture pains him as much as his disheveled appearance hurts me, Andrik gestures for me to exit the elevator first.
I do, albeit hesitantly.
We don’t need a code to enter Mikhail’s apartment. The door has been left wide open, and it smells like someone crawled inside and died many days ago.
“I’ll open some windows while you check the bedroom.”
Andrik takes my bossiness in stride. He veers through the penthouse living room that looks worse than a frat house after a raging party as I open a window in the kitchen before moving for the massive Constantine doors in the dining room. They open out onto the balcony and the city lights.
I spin to face Andrik when he says, “He’s not in there, though he’s been here recently. The shower is wet and there are towels on the floor.”
“Has anyone checked the Broadbent?”
He nods. “I just came from there. He isn’t there either.”
“Someone has to be buying all this.” I wave my hand over numerous boxes of takeout on the dining room table. “And from what Mikhail told me, that person isn’t you. And don’t say it was because we kissed. You cut him off before that happened.” Now isn’t the time for this, but I truly don’t know if I will ever get the chance again, so I run with it. “If you wanted to backtrack on your promise, you didn’t have to make Mikhail your scapegoat. You could have told me that the sex was a good distraction from your son’s health battles, but that was all you wanted from me.”
“Good? The sex was good?” He laughs like he needs a trip to the psych ward. “The sex wasn’t good. It was great. Blistering. So fucking unreal I can’t get it out of my head.” He jabs two fingers into his temple so furiously I have no idea how his brain doesn’t ooze out of his ears. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to live with that? To act like I didn’t destroy everything I’ve been working toward for the past thirty-five years? You didn’t just fucking destroy me, Zoya. You ruined me.”
“You had an affair. It isn’t the end of the world. Men cheat. It’s almost second nature, or your family—”
“I didn’t cheat!” he roars, scaring the living daylights out of me.
I’ve never been subjected to so much anger and pain that I’m lost on how to reply. I would take away his pain if I could. I’d accept it in an instant. But since I feel like that means I would have to give him up permanently, I don’t know if I can do that.
“Andrik—”
“Go home, Zoya!” He pulls away from me with a sneer and peers out the window before proving he has mind reading capabilities. “If you want to help me, go home and pretend we never met, because that may be the only fucking way I will ever survive this.”
My words wobble when I say, “Mikhail—”
“Is not your problem. He’s mine! He has been mine for years, and I’m not willing to give him up for you. Not now.” His next two words are whispered. “Not ever.”