Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Half an hour later, we were below vines of grapes and eating more than we were harvesting. I took a little water bottle with me so whenever Yulia wanted to slip one in her mouth she brought it over and I washed it for her. They were fat, richly colored and extremely sweet.
I didn't want them to upset Yulia's stomach, so we handed over our fruits to Anton. After that, we went with Brain and two other security staff to the beach.
"The chateau is close to the Omaha beach,” Anton said.
I was already exhausted but I could see that Yulia's whole face had lit up. Two bicycles were brought to us, a tiny pink one for her. We cycled along the beach, then we stopped at a cove and swam and played in the sand. It was wonderful spending time with Yulia, but all the time my thoughts kept drifting back to Yuri.
The sun was hot and both of us were near falling asleep. By the time we returned to the chateau, my body was hurting a little bit more than usual and I fell on my bed and fell almost immediately asleep.
Chapter 42
Yuri
It was almost midnight when I returned. I’d wanted to spend as much of the day with April and Yulia, but unscheduled urgent meetings had kept Alex and I occupied for most of the day.
I didn't want to turn on the light, so I took a quick shower and turned in. I laid down beside her, my heart beating just a little bit too fast. Spending last night with April had been the best sleep I’d had in as long as I could remember. The windows were open, so the cool summer breeze could come in, but when I pulled her into my arms, I found her body was burning up and she was covered in sweat.
"April," I called.
She came awake and smiled, a sweet, innocent smile.
It went straight to my heart.
"Yuri?" she whispered.
"You're burning up'"
She lay her head on my chest. "It’s nothing. I always get fevers for no reason. I'll sleep it off,” she said, drowsily. "I'll be fine tomorrow."
The next morning came and a doctor had to be called. Her fever didn't go down during the night despite the cold cloth I continuously ran all over her body.
"I'm fine," she said to me with a flushed face and a weakened tone. "This is nothing. I've ridden out worse fevers than this. It’s probably just too much sun. I usually get better after taking a couple of painkillers."
I sighed. The casual way she was dismissing her illness made me think of her foster upbringing. "How hard was growing up for you?"
She shrugged. "Hard is not the word I would use. I moved around a lot. And I was angry a lot. That's what I remember most. Oh, and I also felt abandoned a lot, but you know... I didn’t take it personally, at least I tried not to.” She shrugged again. “I told you before that my mom gave me up when I was Yulia’s age, right?” She looked directly at me.
I nodded. This wasn’t the time to tell her that I’d done some research and found her mother and she was the mother of the woman who tried to sit next to me at Grosvenor House Hotel.
“Basically,” she continued, “I was ruining her life. Her parents had kicked her out for having me so early, so she was really struggling. I didn't really hold it against her, but when I found out that things got better for her, a lot better, and yet she never bothered to check up on me, or even look for me, that really hurt.” She swallowed hard as she paused.
In this moment, I wanted to kill that shallow creature who had abandoned her.
“I was about thirteen and I'd just been moved away again out of a foster home for no reason. That was when I decided I wasn't going to move again, or depend on anyone else. It was easy to not be adopted when you were a raging bitch to everyone. So I played the part of hateful little bitch until the day I met Charlotte. Remember her? She was the one who opened the door when you came to our apartment.”
I nodded. Sure, I remembered the blonde.
"I don't know what the hell she saw in me but from the first day we met, she decided I was going to be her very best friend. I don't think I even had a choice. In time, she became the sister I never had."
I could hear a slight break in her voice, so I rubbed gently down her back.
She turned to search for my eyes. "That was a long answer to a short question, wasn't it? I'm sorry."
I ran my fingers through her hair. "I don't mind. Alex is that way to me. I lost my mother when I was a kid too." I hesitated. I wondered whether to just gloss over it all, but then I decided to just say it as it was. I’d never spoken to anyone about it, but even if it all ended in a week with April, I wanted her to know my biggest secret. "My dad killed her."