Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Tears spilled down her cheeks. Why did this hurt so much? It wasn’t like Dmitry had tried to fool her into believing he was a good guy. She had known from the start he wasn’t a nice man. No one treated him as such. She felt like such a fool.
George was a dick and it hurt her to think Dmitry had assumed she was working with him. Dmitry had locked the door so there was no way for her to escape. Even as she was locked in his room, she wasn’t even tempted to go exploring his stuff. She didn’t want anything to do with him. His cruelty had hurt her. His thoughtless accusations had seriously upset her. She knew she shouldn’t care, but she did. They hadn’t made any promises to each other, but now, she didn’t want to be anything to him other than a nanny to Sofia.
She heard the lock flick on his door, and then the doorknob twist. Dmitry stood in the doorway.
“Sofia would like to say good night to you.”
Alix got to her feet, swiped at her face, and brushed past him. He grabbed her arm and she flinched. It was the first time she had shown any kind of fear.
“Damn it, Alix, I’m not going to hurt you.”
She turned to look at him. “There are a lot of different kinds of pain other than physical. Where’s Sofia?”
“In her room,” he said.
She didn’t know if he wanted to say anything more, but she wasn’t in the mood to listen. All she wanted was to get the hell out of his way and get to Sofia’s room. It was already dark outside so she’d been in Dmitry’s room for several hours, most of the afternoon.
She rushed toward Sofia’s bedroom and she saw the little girl looking exhausted. The moment Sofia saw her, her eyes lit up, but then she frowned.
“You’ve been crying,” Sofia said.
“It’s fine. I just had some sad news.”
“Can I make it better?”
“Sofia, you always make everything better. You have the magical touch.” She knelt on the floor and took Sofia’s hand in hers, kissing her knuckles. “See, I already feel better.”
“But I haven’t done anything.”
“Your precious smile and knowing you wanted to see me makes me feel better. So, did you eat your vegetables?”
Sofia scrunched up her face but then she nodded.
“Including the broccoli?”
“It tasted funny.”
“Good funny or bad funny?”
“Bad funny.”
Alix chuckled. “That means it’s good for you.”
“Daddy said if I ate all my vegetables that I could have ice cream.”
She tutted. “Did you eat them all up?”
“Yes, all of my carrots.”
“Did they taste funny as well?”
Sofia shook her head. “No, they tasted all right. The ice cream was nice. It was chocolate chip.”
“Yum, my favorite.”
“I told Daddy you would like some.”
Alix smiled down at her.
“Guess what?” Sofia asked.
“What?” She loved the excitement in the girl’s eyes.
“I showed Daddy all the doggies I want and he said I could have one. He said if I’m a really good girl, that I would get a doggie.”
Alix chuckled. “Yay.”
“You’ll help me take care of him or her, right, Alix?”
“Right.” She nodded her head. She would do anything for this little girl.
Sofia yawned and Alix giggled. “You are a tired little girl.”
“Daddy played with me. We played chase and it was so fun. I love it when Daddy plays.”
Alix hated that even as she despised him at that moment, she wished she could have been there to see the little girl play with her father. Dmitry didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who would play with his kid. She knew he loved and cared for Sofia, but she had never seen him play. She had never seen him be a father. But who was she to judge?
“Good night, Alix,” Sofia said.
“Good night, sweetheart. Sleep well.” She hoped there were no bad dreams for her tonight. That the aliens and sharks left her alone. She pressed a kiss to Sofia’s temple and got to her feet. She turned on the night light, then switched off the lamp.
Dmitry was at the door and she stepped out of it. There was a man outside Sofia’s room as there was every single night. Alix turned to go to her room but Dmitri grabbed her arm and led her in the opposite direction. She refused to fight him in front of his men, and walked with him to the dining room. His grip wasn’t too tight but she did want to push him away. The moment they stepped into the dining room she would have done exactly that, but there were men there as well.
Dmitry all but dragged her toward the dining room table, where he forced her to sit beside him. She stayed still, gritting her teeth. Dmitry took the seat close to her at the head of the table.