Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 68691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“Sir,” I said into the receiver courteously, careful to keep the impatience out of my voice, maintain an even tone. “Where is your daughter? What do you know?”
But the voice of the screaming woman grew louder in the background, making any reasonable conversation impossible, Lady Sterling’s wails like a banshee, and a couple hard thumps rang out, like she was banging her head against a wall.
“Mary, stop, stop!” called Lord Sterling, trying to halt whatever his wife was doing. But suddenly his voice dropped to a low growl.
“Tina’s in Cambodia,” he spoke quickly into the phone, under his voice. “Siem Reap last I heard.” And then the receiver went dead.
And so the three of us were here now, crammed into the back of this rickshaw thing, in the middle of this barely developed country looking for our girl. Where was she? My heart stopped in my throat as I looked over the thatched roofs of the village houses, the dilapidated cars, the dusty animals plodding by. Where was our beautiful brunette in all of this?
KARL
I can’t say that I’m proud of what’s happened. Because instead of sticking it out, staying by our girl, my bro and I took off, leaving her on her own. Because yeah, we knew Tina was upset, that Kristian was gone on some official business, and that the brunette had nowhere to turn, no one to talk to about the dramatic revelations of the White Gala. And as ashamed as I am to admit it, my bro and I didn’t stick around either.
But my feelings were mixed. On the one hand, we had to leave. We had no jobs after all, and money would have become an issue sooner or later. It’s nice to live in la-la land, but Kato and I can’t stay there for long, it’s fucking wrong to let your best girl support you while you sit on the couch.
So we had to get ourselves jobs and to our surprise, had been hired immediately by a para-military outfit. I guess it makes sense. My twin and I are soldiers with specialized skills and anything goes in times of war, they’ll pay a pretty penny for ruthless dudes who know how to wield a fist.
But I still felt guilty about leaving, and I know my twin did to. We’d hightailed it out of St. Venetia with a thousand questions unanswered, leaving our woman nowhere to turn, forcing her to figure things out on her own. That was no way to treat a sensitive, nineteen year-old girl, especially since the ending had been so dramatic, filled with incredible ups and downs straight out of a movie.
So we were determined to do right by her now, find her in this jungle that was Cambodia. But WTF, why did she choose Cambodia? The answer only became too clear when we got to the hotel.
Because the Meridian was quite fancy, a French outfit left over from colonial days, an ivory-colored building which subtly resembled the White House, pillars at the entrance, a grand foyer and marble lobby. The café served afternoon tea, the concierge spoke perfect English, and it looked like there was a lavish gift shop off to the right.
“Is a Ms. Sterling staying here?” I asked the front desk. We’d been tipped off that there was a foreign girl here, a white girl with brown hair who was using the Meridian Hotel as her residence.
And instead of hemming and hawing, refusing to reveal the name of a guest due to privacy issues, the man at the front desk gestured to the left.
“Over there,” he said with a smile. “In that room.”
Really? That easy? The three of us looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Well, this was a foreign country, and when in Rome, do as Romans do.
So we made our way to the room, bursting in unceremoniously, our massive forms filling the small space, overfilling it given that the office could only fit a desk, two chairs, and a few occupants at its max.
And I was about to open my mouth, bark at the visitor, tell him to get the fuck out when we stopped in our tracks, stunned, unable to believe our eyes. Because Tina had stood up, revealing her figure … and she was pregnant, so beautiful, so fertile and gorgeous, that suddenly I knew everything would work itself out. No, scratch that, we’d make it work. No matter what the cost.
TINA
It was a surprise when the three men came storming in, tall forms dominant, arrogant, arousing still despite everything that had happened. I’d forgotten how magnetic they were, Kato, Karl and Kristian, the charisma rolling off them in waves, their hard, muscled bodies filling up the space, blue eyes taking in everything within seconds.
“Um, excuse me Annelise,” I said with a murmur. “Would you mind waiting outside for a moment?”