Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
As I work my jaw side to side, I shift on my feet to face Nat. “Where does he live?”
“Nobody knows.” My growl barely reaches her ears when she spits out, “Nobody fucking knows. I’ve had my bodyguard searching for his home address for months. The closest he got was an event his father is hosting tonight down by the lake. His name isn’t on the deed, but Saka is reasonably sure Vasily and Leon will be there. I could probably get you a ticket.”
“No need,” I reply as the tension stops asphyxiating me. “I already have one.”
“If you want them to believe you’re a guest, you need to wear a bow tie.” Nat moves to the rack I’ve been avoiding as if it had the plague before she plucks a midnight-black bow tie from a stack of many. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you as a plus one? I doubt I could get through to Polina as well as you can, but I’ve been known to occasionally steer her away from trouble.”
“By standing by and watching her be schmoozed by a dick like Vasily Cabanow?” I’m deflecting my anger onto anyone but me, but cut me some slack. I’m pissed, hungry, and craving the hit of a drug more potent than any I’ve snorted. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
Nat shrugs like she’s not sure if she deserves an apology. “I could only guide her to water. I couldn’t force her to drink it.” When her reply crinkles my forehead with wrinkles, she mutters, “Oh… you still think that text was from Polina.” She grimaces. “My bad.”
“What?” The truth smacks into me before she speaks another word. “Polly didn’t message me that night?”
Guilt only crosses her features for half a second before she shakes her head. “You must have broken every law to reach Novaya Avenue before us. I would have picked a different location if I’d known Vas was there.” When I’m too stunned to speak, she continues talking. “I knew one look would have her remembering she didn’t need a man to save her.” My scoff fans her hair when she adds, “She just needed a kid.”
“A kid with a size fifteen boot—”
“That I hope finds its way lodged up Vasily Cabanow’s rear end at some stage this week,” Nat interrupts, laughing. As quickly as her giggles arrive, they leave. “Should we be doing this?” I’m not sure why she’s including herself in my plans. All she’s done is help me pick a suit. “We’re meant to trust her.”
“We do trust her.”
She threads the bow tie around my neck. “Then why are you charging in on a white horse? That doesn’t display trust to me.” Once she has the bow tie in place, she straightens it before locking her eyes with mine. “She will hate being treated like a damsel in distress.” She hits me where it hurts. “Especially by you. She fell for you so fast because you don’t look at her like everyone else does, like she’s some sort of broken toy to fix. You knew her secrets before you started chasing her, but you didn’t care. You liked her how she came.” An expected grin tugs at one side of my mouth when she says, “Icy and cold.”
“That isn’t who she is.”
Nat mimics my smile. “I know… because we’re one of the rare few she’s let in. I don’t want anything to lose us our spot.” She scans the barcode on the bow tie into the cash register while murmuring, “So that’s why I have to sit this one out.” Her eyes are remorseful. “Then she’ll have someone to run to if you stuff this up.” Her tone isn’t close to duplicating the sentiment in her eyes. “And who knows, maybe next time I’ll get her to drink the water as well.”
Before I can thank her for her support, she claps her hands together two times before doing a one-eighty on our conversation. “Will that be cash or credit?”
25
POLINA
“Mr. Cabanow will meet you downstairs in five minutes.”
As I twist to face Yana, the stylist Vasily hired to work with me today, I wobble in my sky-high stilettos. My stumble could have been missed if my dress had a modest hemline. This one is so short I’ll be worried I’m flashing my panties any time I sit down.
Vasily isn’t about glamor. He wants to make everyone within five miles of him jealous.
A week ago, I would have happily dressed like a Barbie doll to help him achieve that.
Now I feel gross.
Part of the reason I responded so shockingly to Yev’s suggestion that I touch myself was because a memory I’d kept hidden for over two decades resurfaced faster than I could comprehend it.
Alek didn’t walk in on my father inappropriately touching me as I suspected the past twenty-three years.