Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Translation: Theía is still the Familia's most skilled tracker, and so they're going to use my aunt's "condition" to give her a free pass.
Steps must be taken to prevent this from happening again.
Translation: they still need to exact some form of punishment on my family, and so...
"It has not escaped our attention how protective Kayra feels towards her niece."
Why do I have a feeling the Familia's about to turn me into their sacrificial lamb?
"If something were to happen to Bailey, it might trigger the exact same reaction in Kayra—-"
"Just get to the damn point," my grandfather growls.
A silver-haired lady with a string of pearls circled around her neck shakes her head at Papou from across the table. "We are not here to fight with you, Astro."
Helene isn't just the matriarch of the Cholevas clan. She's also the woman whose feelings my grandfather spurned not once but twice, and even though she's been saying all these years their failed romance is water under the bridge—-
Yeah right.
The way my grandfather's face has already hardened tells me we're thinking the same thing. Helene has never really forgiven Papou for not having feelings for her, and she's been trying to make him pay for it every sneaky chance she gets.
"This meeting is for your family's benefit, Astro. Kayra will always be one of this organization's most valuable assets, and her safety is as much as our priority as it is yours."
Helene may be saying all the right words, but I'm not buying it at all, and I'd have called bull on it, too...if I wasn't so sure it would earn me a bullet hole in the head.
"Preventive measures must and will be taken, and if we do not want Kayra to be provoked in such a manner ever again, we need to eliminate potential triggers—-"
While I'm sure they don't mean to sound threatening, 'elimination' kinda sorta takes a whole new meaning when it's the mafia that's talking.
"And that's why the majority of us has come into a decision—-"
Papou sputters in outrage. "You've all casted your votes without me?"
But Helene acts like she hasn't heard a word from him. "Every family that is a member of this organization has been asked to present their most eligible sons."
My grandfather surges to his feet. "What the hell?"
"Bailey must find a husband among our kind within the day—-"
"Are you out of your mind?" Papou bellows.
Helene only smiles coldly at this. "You can choose her husband for her. Or let Kayra make the choice or even Bailey herself, if you are the type to leave such decisions to one so young. We don't care how you do it as long as she's married before sundown."
Eye for an eye
STRAKH.
While the word translated to 'fear' in English, the past several years had seen the Russian term turn into a symbol of hope for hapless victims around the world. People that had been abandoned or betrayed by their own flesh and blood. People that even the most powerful governments hadn't been able to save. These people would not be alive today...if not for them.
Strakh Incorporated.
A faceless entity that no one had been able to unmask, a secret organization made up of tech-savvy Robin Hoods who were relentless in their pursuit of justice.
Strakh Inc. had been known to show mercy to those who deserved a second chance, but they were just as feared for being monstrously ruthless when on a quest to destroy their targets.
Fan fiction inspired by Strakh Inc. had been steadily on the rise, and while their most devoted and romantic of fans loved to think of them as a brotherhood of billionaires who were Batman, Christian Grey, and John Wick all rolled into one—-
None of them really believed this to be true...even though it was.
SHEENA WAS NERVOUS.
This was her first time to attend a meeting of Strakh, and it was just one of those surreal moments in life where truth did seem stranger than fiction. Nobody would ever guess that it was the Devil and his friends behind Strakh Incorporated, and things became even more surreal as she listened to Tahey, the only other female member of the group, outline their newest mission with a series of slides.
"These guys use cryptocurrency scams to lure people into debt."
Click.
"This is the amount of money they've already stolen from their victims."
Click.
"The worst thing about this scheme is when would-be victims fit a particular profile: attractive females below forty years old, credit rating below 500, and no known immediate relatives that could stir up trouble."
Click.
"These women are invited to special investor meetings where they're then drugged, abducted, and sold off to the highest bidder."
The meeting went on a quick break when Stelios excused himself to take a call, and upon the Greek billionaire's return—-
"You're getting what?"
"Married," Stelios drawled. "I haven't tried it personally, but I hear it has the phenomenal ability to expose a man's deepest secrets...like actually having dimples."