Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I don’t know if he’s asking a question or summarizing, so I stay quiet.
It is for the best. It means we have no issues hearing the stomp of feet projecting from outside my room.
“Scream, now,” Feo demands, his voice a whisper.
The screams I was desperate to release earlier bounce off the sea-corroded walls before echoing in my ears.
Feo adds to the men outside beliefs that I’m being assaulted by grunting before telling me to stay fucking still. “If you haven’t had a rabies shot lately, I suggest you get one before coming in here. The fucking bitch just bit me.”
The shadows remain under the door for several painful seconds before they eventually disappear. Then, just as quickly, Feo removes the chains bolted to the wall. “I was meant to just keep an eye on you, but he…” he nudges his head to the guy with a drooping smile slashed across his neck, “… wasn’t lying when he said they have a lineup.” When he steadies my sways by grabbing the top of my arms, I realize just how many features he shares with his brother. You’d have no clue they have different fathers. They could be twins. “Are you all right? Can you walk?”
I nod. “Yeah. I think so.”
“All right.” He breathes out slowly, ruffling a black tuft of hair that has fallen down over his forehead. “Now we just need to work out where the fuck to stash you until they catch up with us.”
He also believes Alek is alive, and it makes me sigh in relief.
“You weren’t seriously having doubts, were you?” He cocks his brow at me like he did when I asked him to pretend to be Yev so Maksim would let me work at his strip club. “That man is a tank. I doubt anything could take him down, especially when it places distance between you two.”
After taking a moment to settle the inane tears his assurance pricked my eyes with, I advise, “There’s a safety boat moored off the stern. It’s got blankets, batteries, and food. We could survive a couple of days in it.”
“We can’t launch it into the ocean, Pip.” I have no clue why Feo calls me Pip, but he’s done it since the day Yev introduced us. “We’ve been sailing for two days. We’re in the middle of nowhere. We’ll never be found.”
“Two days?” I ask, shocked.
When he jerks up his chin, the dizziness plaguing me makes sense. My room has no windows, and the door leads to a windowless corridor, so I assumed time was going at a snail’s pace. I had no idea two days had passed.
“Have you heard from Yev?” They talk every day, so my question is understandable. The next one is a little pointless, though. I don’t think Alek even knows Yev has a brother. “Alek?”
“Yev made contact a couple of hours into the voyage.”
“And?” I encourage, hating that he’s leaving me hanging.
“And?” He drags his hand over his head, his fingers raking through the thick mane. “There was a lot of shit going down. Ghost was shot and was nonresponsive, and Alek was being taken into surgery. Some shit about needing to remove a piece of his skull.”
“What?” I’m usually smarter than this, but tell me how you’d handle a situation like this with barely any sleep and no food in two days. You would be as bewildered as me.
“He said he’d call me once he knew more.” He shrugs. “I lost reception not long after that.”
“What about the satellite phones? Ghost has one in his office. Alek might even have one in his room.”
I curse Kirill to hell when Feo replies, “Their cabins were stripped of devices before I got here, and there are a ton of fucking cameras watching every nut scratch. I won’t get close to that area of the ship without being spotted.”
“He knew they were never attending this voyage.”
He hums, agreeing with me. After a quick lick of his lips, he asks, “Do you think you could survive on the boat for a couple of days if it wasn’t launched?” He grins at my shocked expression. “Yev told me about the days you spent out there. It is as cold as a witch’s tit outside, but it is warming up the more we cruise toward the US coastline.”
“We’re going to America?”
Again, he lifts his chin. “We seem to be taking the long route, though, but that could be more about bringing people into line before we dock.” His grin is far too playful considering we’re having this conversation with two dead people wedged between us. “Katie is giving him hell. Heard it’s the Petrovs’ way.”
I’m completely and utterly lost, but before I can demand further explanation, another set of boots encroach. They don’t knock. They twist the handle without a syllable seeping from their lips, forcing Feo’s wide eyes to mine.