Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“My name is not Vlad.”
“Whatever.”
He grunts out a response. “The Pakhan ordered me to get you all the financial reports from the four brigades.”
“Hello, Mikhail’s trouble.” I stare over my shoulder at Ruslan. “How much do you bet we will find something fishy in there?”
“A hundred,” he says in his somewhat sophisticated accent.
“That’s so little,” I tease him.
“Five hundred.” Katia places a tray of coffee in front of us and steps back to stand beside Ruslan.
I grin. “Now we’re talking. I will call you on that.”
Vlad takes a sip of his coffee. “You need to submit V Corp’s reports too.”
“To who?”
“To everyone. Sergei wants everything to be out in the open with this one.”
“Why now?”
“Adrian might have something to do with it. He stayed with him last.”
I lean my elbow on my knee and tap my chin with my forefinger. “You think he’s plotting something behind our backs?”
“Most likely. Remember, he only pushed Sergei up when he knew Ivan was dead and couldn’t be Pakhan. You need to be extra careful with that one.”
“Why? Did you hear something?”
He pauses with his cup halfway to his mouth. “Maybe.”
“What is it?”
“My spies tell me he had a meeting with Igor and Kyle prior to coming to today’s meeting.”
“Motherfucker.” I ball my hands into fists. If Kyle has Adrian by his side, I’m most definitely screwed. “If you knew that, why the hell did you vote for him to stay? Why did everyone? I just don’t understand why Dedushka favored him so much, and now even Sergei does.”
“Simple. He’s efficient. You can’t deny that during the times he was with us, no one dared to come near the brotherhood. They knew they would be sniped in their sleep by him.”
“He’s still a killer.”
“We all are.”
“We kill for necessity, to protect our honor and our own. He kills for sport and profit. People like him who follow no codes of honor and have no loyalty are the most untrustworthy.”
“No one trusts him. We’re all just using his skills.”
I pause at Vlad’s words, the meaning behind them sitting badly with me for some reason.
“Do you know why I’m a shadow, Princess? It’s because no one notices when I’m gone.”
I shake Kyle’s words away, refusing to allow them weight.
They do remain in my head, though.
They grow and magnify until they’re the only thing I can think of, because I did notice when he was gone.
I did more than notice.
It ripped me apart from the inside out, and I’m still not sure if the wound will ever heal.
Now, I have to marry him and dig the knife deeper with my own hands.
8
Rai
Today is my wedding day.
It might as well be my funeral.
I don’t know why it feels like something inside me is struggling for breath, smothering in nothingness and slowly dying. Maybe it’s been dead for a long time, but I’m only noticing it now.
During my entire life, I’ve never been the type who dreamed about fairy tales and weddings. I preferred stories about monsters and demons. I thought they were more realistic than the cheesy Prince Charming ones.
Reina believed in her white knight and her fairy tale. She secretly loved Asher since they were children, and those feelings only got stronger as they grew up. She painted her own fairy tale and didn’t stop until it finally came to its happy ending.
Well, the process wasn’t exactly fairytale-ish, but the result is what matters. They’ve been happily married for many years and even had little Gareth.
Me? I always thought that type of life was not meant for me.
But even with my lack of belief in such things, I never thought I would get married this way, like cattle for the best buyer.
I shake my head as I stare at my console mirror. I’m wearing a simple white dress that falls to my feet. Lace is buttoned to my neck in the back and the front and covers my arms.
My hair is gathered into a neat twist at the back of my head. My makeup is thick, as usual, but I opted for red lipstick, because the devil needs to look pretty to lure in her prey.
If it were up to me, I would’ve changed the color of the dress to black, but that would reflect badly on Granduncle and the brotherhood in general, so I smothered that urge and went with this look.
The face that greets me is calm, serene, almost like this is in fact my wedding day.
It isn’t. Today is the day I take the next step toward my goal.
There’s a knock on the door, and I clear my throat. “Come in.”
Sergei walks inside, his steps moderate as he tries not to put too much pressure on his stamina. His white hair is neat and well-styled, and he’s dressed in the tux he reserves for special occasions. I don’t know if I should be flattered or sad that he thinks this is a special occasion for me.