Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Sonia leaned on the railing, peering down at the trees as if studying the branches. It would be difficult not to see that, and Molly wasn’t stupid. Sonia was an artist. She would have noticed the branches. She nodded, but kept her back to Molly. “I’ve been thinking about how best to paint them,” she said. “There are quite a few really large trees in this swamp. Thick ones, with massive branches that reach from tree to tree. If I was going to build a treehouse, this would be the perfect place.”
She turned to face Molly, her hips resting against the railing. “Have you ever looked at books with treehouses in them? There are beautiful homes. Actual homes.”
“You’re thinking of building a treehouse? Aren’t there, um…” Molly frowned and took a sip of lemonade. “I think I’ve become so paranoid I can’t enjoy anything, not even beautiful trees. Why are you able to carry on with your life and I’m such a terrible baby? I cried in front of Bastien. That’s so awful. I can’t imagine what he thinks.”
“He thinks you’re a beautiful, desirable woman with a madman chasing after you. He thinks you’re human, Molly.” Sonia turned back to stare out over the swamp. She needed that swamp to keep Gatita safe and happy. She wasn’t human. She had no idea why or how she ended up a shifter, a woman with a leopard living inside her. She didn’t know if her mother or father was a leopard, but she did know she wasn’t human. There wouldn’t be a human man in her future.
You have a mate, Gatita weighed in.
I don’t know how to tell him about Sasha. He would try to protect us and no one can take on the Russian mob and live – not even Donovan Security. She sighed and pushed at the hair falling out of her haphazard ponytail.
“I’m really scared, Sonia,” Molly confessed. “I don’t think I’d survive if Blake found me again. I can’t take pain very well. It hurt so much.”
Sonia whirled back around, forgetting for a moment to keep Gatita’s speed under control. “No one is going to get to you, Molly. No one. I’ll protect you, I swear it.”
“He could hurt you,” Molly pointed out.
Sonia shook her head. “Since Sasha turned on me, I’ve made it my business to learn a few things in this last year.” She was getting faster at shifting, although she hadn’t figured out how to get out of her clothes as quickly as she would like. She was still working on that. “He’s not going to get to you. Kai will be here any minute and then Gray and probably Bastien. Once Joshua knows you’re in danger, which he probably already does because Kai and Gray tattle every chance they get, he’ll come too. Most likely, because his security team is bored as hell, he’ll bring them along and then…”
Molly burst out laughing. “We’d better start making food. Lots of food. If we have an army to feed, we can’t be slackers in the cooking department.”
“Wait. Are you saying I should have been offering Kai and Gray dinners this entire time?” Sonia asked, half serious.
“I would have. You did, at least, offer them coffee.”
She hadn’t. Not once. She’d been annoyed they were even around. “You’re so much nicer than me.”
“No, I’m not,” Molly said. “It isn’t like you’ve had a chance to figure out who you are and what you want to do, not when you were married at what? Eighteen?”
Sonia nodded. “I married him a month after my mother died. He wanted me to continue staying at his house. I just let him carry me while I was grieving. I didn’t think about anything but how awful it was without her. I stayed within the grounds that first year. Sasha encouraged me to take the time, to let myself grieve. He was so good about it.”
“He was keeping you prisoner.”
“I didn’t know that, though,” Sonia pointed out. “I thought he was looking out for me. He even brought in a personal shopper when I needed new clothes.”
“What happened when you wanted to leave the house?” Molly asked.
She shrugged. “Bodyguards. That’s why I haven’t been so thrilled with Kai and Gray. I don’t like anyone watching me. It feels too much like him. Sasha. I thought, at the time, it was to protect me, but it was much more sinister than that.”
Sonia. They are here.
For a moment Sonia thought Gatita meant Kai and Gray, but the feeling hit her hard. It didn’t drift into her mind the way warnings could, this one flashed in bright red neon signs in her mind. They weren’t Kai and Gray. They didn’t mean Bastien. They meant Blake and his men.
10
Sonia put down her glass of lemonade and reached for Molly’s hand to tug her up. When Molly flashed a smile and looked as if she were about to speak, Sonia shook her head. Instantly the smile faded, replaced by fear. No, not fear, terror. Sonia hated putting that look on her face. She indicated the French doors and put a finger to her lips. Molly nodded and went inside.