Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Our time together in the airplane bathroom.
The vows we exchanged.
They were all for a purpose, and it isn’t close to what Maksim and Aleena made out.
He doesn’t want an inheritance.
He wants to get off murder charges.
And I’m his scapegoat.
“Nikita!” Ano shouts when I throw open the back door of the SUV, slip out, and then sprint down the icy sidewalk.
He could be chasing after me on foot, but I can’t hear anything over the thuds of my heart in my ears. I thought what Maksim and I had was special, that it was fast because it was right. You don’t need to stay in the slow lane when there’s nothing to be fearful of.
I’ve never felt more stupid.
I’m taken aback when my entrance into the foyer of my building occurs at the same time Maksim exits the elevator. He’s surrounded by men in powerhouse suits that scream importance, but his aura trumps them all. He is the clear alpha of the room, and after everything I’ve just learned, it should make me scared to approach him.
Regretfully, I inherited my stubbornness from my mother.
“Did you marry me so I wouldn’t be able to testify against you?”
Maksim balks for barely a second before he forces his expression back to impassive, and then he continues showing his guests the way out.
I’m too hurt to wait for privacy.
I want answers, and I want them now.
“Answer me! Did you marry me so I couldn’t testify against you?”
Maksim’s jaw gains a tic. I don’t know if it is from my line of questioning in front of dignitaries, some I now realize are foreign since they appear oblivious to my accusations, or because two of his guests are barged out of the way by Ano sprinting into the foyer, red-faced and out of breath.
Ano believes it is the latter. “I’m sorry, boss, she—”
Maksim cuts him off by slicing his hand through the air before he requests for the building to be placed into lockdown. “No one is to come in or out until we have a handle on the situation.”
He glares at me during his last word, and it announces my ankle wasn’t solely ensnared the night we wed. The trap tonight is pronged with just as many maiming stakes.
“Don’t even think about it,” Maksim mutters in a low tone when I attempt to skirt past him and follow his straggling guests out.
He grabs my arm forcefully enough that instincts have me rearing up to defend myself. I slap him hard enough that the crack of my hit echoes in the silence of the foyer. We’re surrounded by a handful of the tenants Maksim allowed to stay and construction crew members, but the tension is so white hot they’re not willing to breathe in case it forces them to miss a snippet of the action.
“Let me go, Maksim,” I scream when he walks me toward the elevator while I struggle to be freed from his hold.
When he ignores my demand, I stray my eyes across the people watching me being forcefully placed into the elevator.
Not a single one comes to my defense—not even the security guards paid to protect the occupants of this building.
“Cowards,” I mutter, too angry at myself not to deflect it onto someone else.
“They’re not cowards, Doc. They’re smart.” Maksim lowers his massively dilated eyes to me. “Smart enough to know I would rip them to shreds if they even considered coming between us.”
“Because you’d hate for anyone to wedge a gap between you and your guarantee of continued freedom.”
The fact he doesn’t try to deny my claim hurts more than anything.
“Did you do what they assume you did?”
My stomach drops to my feet when he answers nonchalantly, “Yes. I killed them.”
I stumble back until my winter coat scrapes the glass wall of the elevator, while mumbling, “Why would you do that? Why hurt innocent people—”
“Innocent?” he roars, his voice bellowing. “There was nothing innocent about them!”
When he spins to face me, I learn why he is talking so openly. The red light in the security camera is no longer flashing. His confession is only being heard by me—the person he married so he couldn’t be testified against.
My stomach revolts as more truths seep through the confusion clouding my judgment. “Every time we were together was so you could have an alibi.” When he remains quiet, I continue pushing. “That’s what you told them, isn’t it? You made out you were with me.”
“I was with you.”
I’m up in his face in an instant, stupidly unscared. “Before or after you hurt them, Maksim? Because you sure as fuck weren’t with me when you… you…” I can’t say the word. I can’t picture him in that situation, much less speak about murder as if it is the norm.
“Does it matter?” Maksim asks, his eyes bouncing between mine like he can’t understand the reason for the wetness brimming in them.