Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I shiver. He isn’t just a leader. He leads other men just like him.
My heart beats faster. Adrenaline surges through me when he leans in closer.
“I have questions for you, little hacker.”
Apparently, we have a pet name. How cute.
I tremble. I’m pissed that I’m shaking. I walked into his office with my head held high and I want to be on equal terms again. “Hard to — talk — when I’m drugged.”
“Mmm. I see,” he says, as he sits on the edge of the bed before he reaches for me and lifts me up, placing me on his lap.
His. Lap.
I can feel the tightness of his thighs beneath mine, and I’m painfully aware that I’m nearly naked. I’m wearing nothing but a tank and thin white cotton panties while he’s fully clothed.
I couldn’t think of anyone more unlike me in this moment — him, muscled and strong and powerful. Me, damn near scrawny. Him, rich and powerful and fearless. Me, running for my life without a penny to my name. Him, a leader in the Russian mafia. Me…a nobody.
It seems like the most logical response to anything he asks me is to tell him the truth. I can barely talk, much less defend myself. And yet…I won’t roll over and let him have what he wants. Yes, I hacked into his goddamn computer base, but that doesn’t thereby give him carte blanche over me.
I gasp and flinch when he reaches for me. His fingers stab into my hair, effectively pinning me in place. I remember his admonition before I left his office about not leaving my hair pinned up.
He’s been waiting to do this.
I clamp my teeth together and look into his cold, merciless eyes. I bet if he had a man in this position, he’d be treating him very differently. Still, it’s unnerving how easily he dominates me into submission.
“Yes or no answers will suffice. A simple nod or shake of your head will do.”
I clamp my lips together. I won’t tell him anything. He won’t break me.
“Did you or did you not hack into our database and break it so my secretary couldn’t access it?”
I clamp my teeth together and look away. His fingers in my hair tighten. A warning.
“Answer me.”
I stare stoically ahead. I know who I’m dealing with but I won’t be bulldozed by a goddamn man.
“No one says secretary anymore. Join the modern age, you Neanderthal,” I mutter through clattering teeth.
To my surprise, he shakes his head and gives a cold chuckle before his grip tightens to painful. “Answer me,” he whispers in my ear. “Answer me now before this becomes a lot more painful for you.”
I grit my teeth and refuse to speak.
He pulls my hair and I gasp. I freeze, unable to move.
“I have other methods to make you talk,” he says in a voice that reveals no emotion. “But I won’t use them yet. With the plans I have for you, it would be better if you and I weren’t enemies out of the gate.”
“Fuck. You,” I seethe. As if he can just take me from my bed and manhandle me and expect us to not be enemies?
The pain worsens as he holds me in his grip. If I move, I’m fucked.
I feel his fingers against my aching scalp and his mouth to my ear. “Did. You. Do it?”
“Of course I fucking did,” I manage to rasp out. “I needed to talk to you. All I did was make her calendar disappear for a little while, so I think you’re way overreacting.”
“Am I?” he asks. He sighs as if pained as he reaches for his gun and cocks it. “We could try traditional methods if that’s what you truly prefer.”
Fear spikes through me and I’m suddenly wide awake. I wonder if I’ve imagined that he’s drugged me. My mouth feels dry.
“Her calendar should be back now,” I say, my voice sounding strange to my own ears.
“That isn’t the point, and you know it.”
His tone of voice — cold and indifferent, as if I’m nothing more than a specimen pinned on a card — scares me more than anything else he’s done. Why did I ever go to him to begin with?
Again, his fingers stroke through my hair, as if to remind me that if I behave, he can be very nice. But even drugged, I know that’s a lie. I wince when his grip tightens.
“I’m going to ask you another question. Think before you speak, Aria.” So we’re heading into first name territory, are we? Excellent. Something tells me familiarity with this man will be a huge mistake.
His mouth to my ear makes me shiver from the closeness and intimacy. The difference between warm and cold makes me uneasy. One minute, he’s holding me tight and the next, he’s switching on a dime.