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)
He sobered instantly, crouching in front of her. His thumb slid over her swollen cheek and drifted lower to her lips. He rubbed her bottom lip. “I’m real, Sonia. One hundred percent real. You’re safe with me.”
She hoped so. She couldn’t take another betrayal. She’d survived because there was a small part of her that had been asleep, too grief-stricken to know what the Bogomolov family was, but as she’d begun to waken, she’d absorbed their deceit and treachery through her skin. It hadn’t come as a complete surprise that they were criminals. The shock had been the casual way they’d been willing to kill her after deceiving her into believing they loved her.
She looked into Joshua’s blue-green eyes. That field of crystal blue with those intriguing swirls of green. She had to trust someone. She wanted that someone to be him.
11
Sonia was in his house. In his bed. Joshua glanced up to the ceiling. Flames from the fireplace sent light flickering across the crystal chandelier, making it sparkle like diamonds. He noted the beauty absently. She was up there, and he would have to tell her everything. Tonight. He couldn’t climb into bed with her again without telling her the truth.
She had to know that Nikita and Sasha Bogomolov would be coming for her. He had the feeling she wouldn’t take that very well. At least not the part of his confession about Nikita having been an invited guest in his home. He had cleared out the scent of the Russians in preparation of her coming, but that wasn’t to deceive her so much as to buy him time to find a way to tell her the truth.
He’d put it off, letting her sleep last night, and then spent the day waiting on her, staying up in his room with her, just talking about everything but what they should have been talking about. He’d stalled. Now he had no more time. He had to tell her. He’d planned it all out and hoped everything went the way he needed it to go, but…
“Damn it, Evan. Why the hell does life throw these kinds of curves?”
Evan shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“I can’t put it off. You saw him. Nikita is coming back, and he’ll do it soon. I’ve been expecting a call from him any minute. He’s going to give me a bullshit story about how he needs a sit-down with me to iron out expected problems with our deal. His son will come with him, and he’ll bring a lot more of his men on the pretense someone has threatened his son.”
Joshua hated that he was right most of the time. It was very rare for someone to outthink him. Drake had put him in this trusted position because he was a problem solver. He figured out what the enemy was going to do long before they thought of it and he was prepared. Nikita would call, tonight or tomorrow.
“I’ll tell her tonight. After dinner. I want a few more hours to persuade her to give me a chance. I need to lock her in tight before she knows the worst.”
Evan nodded. “I’ll agree with that, Joshua. She needs to know who you are. Give her that. As much of yourself as you can.”
“I’ve had the cook preparing a special dinner. The table’s set. I’m going up to take a shower. You and the others can disappear for the night.”
Evan stood. “It’s going to be okay.”
He replayed Evan’s assurances over and over in his head as he showered in the guest bathroom and dressed in the guest room for dinner. He’d told Sonia to wear the red dress. He wanted to see it on her. It wasn’t the kind of dress a woman could wear with underwear. It fit like a glove. The front was simply two strips of material veeing up from the narrow waistband. It left the sides and back bare. The skirt fit like a glove with one long slit up to the top of her thigh. He couldn’t wait to see it on her, although he wasn’t certain he’d want anyone else to see her in it.
She hadn’t even protested when he’d told her to wear it. She’d disappeared into the master bathroom and locked him out. He supposed he deserved it. He’d locked her out of her bedroom. He straightened his tie and went to the master bedroom door. Knocked. Like a gentleman. He supposed once in a while he could put on the charm for her. She deserved a gentleman, even though that wasn’t him.
She opened the door. Her scent enveloped him. Orange citrus and vanilla. It was a heady combination, but it was the dress on her that drove out every sane thought he had. The thin material clung to her body like a second skin. The darker shadow of her nipples barely showed beneath the spun crimson threads. The swell of her breasts pushed at the stretchy fabric so that it showcased her figure. Every movement sent those soft mounds swaying temptingly.