Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
But first, I have to survive the night. And with every passing second, a new doubt fills my head. It isn’t baseball season, but the park still hosts the occasional dog and their owner. Every set of footsteps makes my breath stop. It goes on as the hours pass, and eventually, darkness sets in.
I rest my eyes and wonder what’s happening back at Nikolai’s estate. He would know that I haven’t returned by now, and he would have contacted Alexei. It occurs to me that his brother must have known about this. Franco just let me go with Mischa without a second thought. They must have had some sort of plan for what they would tell Nikolai. He expected Franco to drive me home, so I assume they will say that I managed to escape from the car, much like I’d planned to. Nikolai will be none the wiser that his best friend helped me, and Alexei and his guard will receive the blame.
It’s the best possible scenario for all of us. Nikolai can return to his life, and hopefully find peace without me. But I just have to force myself not to think about who that life will include.
It’s for the best.
At some point, I fall asleep. I realize it when I’m startled awake by another sound of footsteps. Too late to be a dog walker, I think. It’s dark, and it’s blistering cold. My entire body feels like it’s frozen, and it’s only going to get worse.
I wait for the person to disappear like all the others, but they don’t. The footsteps are getting closer. So close, that on one occasion, I can see shoes from beneath the tree. I hold my breath, dead certain I’m caught when a flashlight sweeps through the brush.
A voice calls out to someone else in Russian, and I swallow. They’ve traced my steps, and this is the most logical conclusion. I have no connections, no car, no idea what to do. So where else would I go?
I wait for the guard to say he’s found me. It’s the longest minute of my life that he stands there, discussing what they should do. But through it all, it becomes clear he has no idea I’m here. And for now, I’m safe.
I still don’t take a full breath until he moves again, and then I gulp the cool air in by the mouthful. Their footsteps grow distant, and eventually, they disappear.
Cold seeps into my bones, and I’m too afraid to move my limbs, even after it has gone quiet. I wait for them to come back. And then I wait some more. For what I would guess to be two hours, I lie as still as I can. Until I know that I have no choice.
It’s now or never.
I have to move. I have to get to safety. I need a warm space, a phone, and every prayer in the world.
The lights in the distance feel close, but I know they are far away. This town is probably crawling with Nikolai’s men by now. My only hope is to find a nice hotel where I can hide in the bathroom for the night. At least I’ll be safe from the elements there.
But my nerves are shot, and my limbs are stiff as I travel through the park. I think I hear a twig snap behind me, and I freeze. Three seconds pass, and then four more. I want to believe it’s my imagination. I want to believe I haven’t made it this far in vain.
I forge on, and there isn’t another sound. Not a single one. But the things that go bump in the night are not the most dangerous predators. It’s the ones who are silent. It’s the thieves who come to steal you away without warning.
And there is no thief more skilled than Nikolai Kozlov.
I understand that when he cages me in his arms, his breath hot in my ear.
“And just where do you think you’re going, pet?”
Her pulse hammers against her throat as I drag her up the stairs to my bedroom. Filthy little liar. Covered in dirt and scratches, so desperate to get away from me. She calls me a sadist, and I laugh in her face.
“You have no idea, zvezda. I’ve been too kind to you. But if you wish, I can show you what a sadist really is.”
Her bottom lip trembles, and she refuses to look at me as she pleads. “Just let me leave.”
My palm blankets the delicate flesh of her throat. I could strangle her right now. I could end her life and this nonsense once and for all. Instead, my fingers wrap around her jaw.
“You don’t get to leave me,” I murmur against her lips. “The only way you’re leaving me, pet, is through death.”
“No,” she protests.