Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I’m so sorry, Viktor. I hate that any of this happened on my watch.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, we all underestimated Igor and I don’t think anyone could have prevented this.”
Lenny nods to him, grateful to be let off the hook, and then he too leaves the room. Viktor and I are alone together for the first time since this morning.
“Are you ok, Amelia? I know this has been a lot to take in,” he says.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “It’s you I’m worried about, not me.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. This will all be over soon, I promise. And then we can go back to the quiet life, huh?”
I lean closer to him, and he holds me for a moment and then he releases me and gets up.
“Come on. We need to pack our things and get out of here,” he says.
I get to my feet and follow him towards the stairs. “Isn’t this the best place to be though? With the added security and stuff.”
“Amelia, you had a gun pointed at you in this house only a few hours ago. Do you really feel comfortable here now?”
I consider his words. It doesn’t make sense that I do feel comfortable here after what happened, but I actually do. I nod slowly.
“I feel comfortable being wherever you are,” I say.
Viktor smiles at me. “You’re one brave lady. Okay, go on upstairs and I’ll join you in a few minutes. I think we both could use an early night. I’ll just let Jerome and Lenny know we’ll be staying here,” he says.
34
AMELIA
I climb the stairs, feeling weary deep down in my bones. He’s right about an early night. I’m covered in blood though and I decide to take a shower before bed. By the time I’m done in the shower and go to the bedroom, Viktor has washed the blood off himself and he’s already in bed waiting for me. He pulls the covers back and I slip into bed beside him. He wraps me up in his good arm and holds me.
“Amelia, listen,” Viktor says. “I’ve been thinking and there’s something I need to talk to you about. And you’re not going to like it.”
I pull myself away from him far enough to look into his face. His expression is completely serious, and I feel dread eating away at me. I sit up and Viktor sits up beside me. We lay back on the pillows and Viktor puts his arm around my shoulders. I turn slightly, leaning into him, and then I steel myself for whatever bad news he’s going to drop on me now.
“Like I said downstairs, I killed Igor’s father, and he isn’t going to stop coming for me until either he gets his way and destroys me, or I end him. You understand that, right?”
I nod calmly, but my heart is racing in my chest.
He sighs. “You have to understand the most obvious way for Igor to get to me is through the one I care most about. And that’s you.”
“You think he’ll grab me or something and use me as bait to lure you in?” I ask.
“Maybe,” he says. “Or maybe he’ll hurt you so I suffer. Either way, I’m not taking that risk. You have to leave.”
“What are you saying?” Does he want us to break up? I feel confused. Is this Igor guy seriously controlling my love life right now?
“I’m saying I have a safe house you can stay in. One that’s not associated with me publicly. We won’t be able to have any contact with each other, and to the outside world, it will look like we’ve split up. Igor isn’t going to go after my ex-girlfriend and…”
Ok, it’s not as bad as I imagined. He’s not breaking up with me. He just wants everyone else to think he has. It’s bad enough though. It still means we’ll have to be apart.
“I don’t want to do that, Viktor. No matter what happens, I want to be with you. I go crazy with worry for you if I’m away from you.”
“I know,” he says gently, moving his fingers on my arm, caressing me. “And trust me, I don’t want to do this either, but if it’s a choice between spending some time away from you and you being safe or having you with me and putting you in danger, I will always choose the safe option.”
“You can keep me safe, Viktor,” I argue. “Look at the fire. Or tonight. You kept me safe.”
“We got lucky tonight, Amelia, and you know it. If I had been two minutes later getting back, it might have been too late.”
“We don’t even know Igor will go after me. He didn’t seem to know who I was earlier. He just demanded to know where you were.”