Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Andrei took a step forward and crossed his arms. With his right hand, he reached for the gun tucked in the front of his pants.
Perfect.
I should have known. After all, I had the pretty little princess on her back, didn’t I? I owned her body in that moment, her violence, her heat. And since I was going to get killed by one or all of them within the next few minutes, I relished it. I put my guard down, took in every beautiful little piece of her, and let it wash over me. At least her skirt wasn’t hiked up by her thighs any longer, exposing her to me and the world. They didn’t need to know that I’d already seen all of her, tasted her, and made a pact with her.
Was lying to her too.
Because I would leave her, I would teach her how to be a liar too, and I would let her enjoy my body, learn how to seduce, learn how to become the best black widow she possibly could, before telling my last lie… and leaving.
The last one she had to believe. And she would, but it would be the best. To truly cut the physical and emotional tie, the only way was deception.
I made that decision in that instant. If I lived, I would be with her until the end, until she was ready, and then I would fail her, and I would walk away so she could live the life she deserved.
I always thought I’d die in bloodshed from my enemies, tortured in a dark room—today, I was going to die for touching something forbidden, and I had to admit it was increasingly more terrifying the quieter the room became.
“Gentleman.” I cleared my throat. “Can I help you?”
“Son of a bitch!” Andrei yelled. “For starters, you can get the hell off my sister, you cocky piece of—”
Phoenix charged toward me and shoved me back. He took a step forward… I think I preferred Andrei over Phoenix.
I think everyone did.
He leaned down and took in the situation like it was a math problem. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d been truly afraid and knew I’d be adding this one to my list.
I had no control against him, no real power. He dealt in secrets and lies, he wielded them like a weapon, and nobody, not even his own family, was excluded from the blow.
Slowly, Katya rose to her feet and tugged her dress down further.
I stayed on the ground, feigning innocence.
“You.” Phoenix pointed at me. “Are you teaching her to fight?”
“You.” I pointed back with an arrogant finger.
He slapped my hand away.
“Do you have a problem with a woman learning how to protect herself?”
“Oh, hell,” Tex muttered under his breath. “He pointed back.”
“I wanted just one day off,” Dante grumbled, running his hands through his thick dark hair.
Nixon and Sergio both seemed to be mildly amused, and Andrei was still half-crazed while Phoenix just glared.
Chase took a step forward and offered me his hand; surprisingly enough, I took it and stood.
All of the men seemed to be measuring me up and down. Katya slowly backed away.
They had no clue that they were scaring her just by the way they were looking at her; for whatever reason, it made me want to do my job more and protect her. I moved to stand in front of her when Phoenix struck.
I didn’t expect the blow to come. He got a right punch to my jaw; it hurt so bad I stumbled back, close enough to shield Katya from his rage.
And then all bets were off. I shook away the stars and glared at him. “Need to blow off some steam, old man?”
“Here we go…” Nixon chuckled.
It wasn’t funny.
“I’m not even thirty!” Phoenix roared.
“It’s a trigger, you see?” Chase nodded helpfully. “So good luck.”
Tex laughed, and all of them stood there, no joke, exchanging bets on who would win.
Like I was in the mafia circus or something.
“Should we tell the others?” Dante asked.
“Bring some wine from the cellar?” Nixon.
“Nah, vodka, this calls for the best.” Andrei.
“My vote’s with Andrei.” Chase.
“Same.” Tex.
“I could use a drink and a show.” Sergio.
What the hell was happening?
Phoenix peeled off his shirt and tossed it. The man was so ripped that all I saw was a blur of tattoos and muscle. “First lesson and this is special just for you, Santino. I think every female should learn how to fight. Had you just stopped there and not been disrespectful, I would have let this slide, but now I’m going to teach you a lesson, and lucky for you, we have an audience. Maybe our new ward will learn a few things while I kick your ass, hmmm?”
So not death but torture. Great. Just great.
Within minutes one of the foot soldiers appeared with bottles of whiskey and vodka, snacks, and the bosses had all pulled out chairs.