Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
“She’s fine,” Mitya answered from the doorway. “Thanks for bringing her the hot chocolate.” His voice was barely restrained.
Ania flicked him a glance. His face was an expressionless mask, but those eyes of his were telling her there was a lot going on beneath the surface.
Vikenti shrugged. “No problem, Mitya. We’re heading back out on patrol.” He led the way back into the house.
Mitya stepped out of their way and closed the door after them. “It’s a little chilly out here, Ania.”
“I like the cool air. It helps clear my head when I feel like I’m going a little crazy.”
He came to her slowly, his gaze fixed on hers. She didn’t look away, needing to see him. Needing to trust herself and her decisions.
“I hurt you in there, didn’t I?” Mitya asked.
That startled her. Had Sevastyan talked to him? She doubted it. Sevastyan was too busy prowling around, scaring off anyone stupid enough to try to attack Mitya. She didn’t answer him. What was she going to say, when he already knew the answer?
“I’m sorry, Ania. I don’t know Joshua. He isn’t a part of our family. I don’t know who I can trust and who is risky for you to be around. I’d hoped the meeting would be finished and he’d be gone before you got up. You needed sleep.”
Her stomach knotted, and she pressed her hand there. “I suppose had I stayed asleep I wouldn’t have even known they were here.”
“I would have told you. I asked my cousins who they thought we could trust. What you’re not aware of, Ania, is, yes, we have taken over a crime lord’s territories. Since we’ve formed our coalition, we’ve reduced hard drugs in our territories by a third. Guns by a little more, but human trafficking is cut by almost fifty percent. It isn’t easy, and we’re constantly having to do a balancing act. We have the cops breathing down our throats. I have my father coming here to kill me. He would torture and kill you in front of me if he could get his hands on you. If the other bosses find out we’re undercutting them in hopes of taking them down or at least keeping them from getting too far out of hand, they would hunt us to the ends of the earth. Now we’ve got a new enemy and we don’t know why.”
He just said it all. Quietly. His voice so low she barely heard him. She couldn’t believe she was hearing him. She stared at him, blinking, trying to focus. Had he just given her everything? Handed it to her without a fight? An argument? Anything? He’d just stood quietly, asking if he’d hurt her and then given her everything. Shared. Like she was really a part of him and not something he kept in his bedroom.
Ania stared up at him, shocked beyond measure, still not certain of what he’d just told her. She tried to process it all very fast. Twice she started to ask questions and stopped herself, wanting to make certain she understood what he’d just said. He was head of a crime family. Had a territory, but the goal, with a group of others like him, was to reduce the amount of criminal activity. Did that even make sense?
“I didn’t want to tell you because . . . well, that’s obvious. The danger to us will be even more than it would be if I was simply doing business like every other criminal. I don’t like putting your life on the line, but living with me, you’re always going to be in danger. Polite society is going to shun you, or whisper behind your back. It isn’t as if I’m offering you the greatest life. On top of that, Dymka is dangerous, moody and rough. That makes me the same way. So, again, I know I’m not standing here offering you a fairy tale.”
Ania put down her grandfather’s journal. She smoothed the pages before she closed the book, her mind racing the entire time. He was really doing it—handing her the gift of a lifetime—a partnership with him.
“That being said, I’m not man enough to let you just walk away from me.” His hands lifted to his wild mane of hair and he shoved his fingers through it, making it even wilder. He looked like his leopard, feral and dangerous, a force to be reckoned with. “I’m not certain how we’re going to resolve this, but we have to find a way to do it, Ania.”
She stood up and took the two steps to stand in front of him. “I needed you to share the truth with me, Mitya. I’m not a woman to stand on the sidelines. I was raised in a household where we participate, we aren’t kept in the dark. My family had me learning self-defense at a very early age as well as learning to handle a variety of weapons. Clearly, I have superior skills when it comes to driving. I can be of use to you—”