Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
There’s a bout of silence, and for a brief moment, a flicker of hope.
Then clarity forms as to why I am apprehensive.
Mara is a mother. Her daughter is the same age my sister was when our world was upended. That automatically removes her from the list of possible candidates.
Since I need to lock down my thoughts before they get carried away, I don’t object to Fyodor joining our discussion. “I disagree with your findings, Rafael. From what Darius unearthed during their brief interlude Friday night, she has no pedigree, no online status whatsoever, and no knowledge of our world.” My hands ball into tight fists that I hide by stuffing them into my pockets. “Mrs. Orlov would never approve.”
Rafael doesn’t give in without a fight. He never does. “Their chemistry is undeniable. The sparks bouncing off them could cause an inferno.” He steps closer to Fyodor, willing to fight for what he believes in. “If you want your plan to work, Fyo, she”—he points to the door Mara walked through moments ago—“is the woman Ark needs at his side.”
“She speaks with a stutter, and I highly doubt she knows the difference between a salad fork and a regular one.”
“All things that can be taught,” Rafael yells, his voice echoing.
Fyodor scoffs. “Class cannot be taught, and that lady has none.”
I shoot up from my chair, my fists ready, prepared, and willing to maim. “Enough!” I glare at Fyodor. “If you’re pissed none of your lap dogs lived up to their hype, take it out on me. Leave Mara out of this. She didn’t ask for your critique, and neither the fuck did I.”
I snatch up my suit jacket and head for the door before I do something I can’t take back.
Knocking my campaign manager the fuck out can’t be taken back.
“Ark…” Fyodor’s swallow is audible as he stalks my trek to the door. “I thought I was supporting your decision.” His confused eyes bounce between mine. “I thought you were disinterested. Isn’t that why you requested me to keep you away from her?”
Rafael’s laughter booms into my ear, freezing my steps. “You did a shit job of that, Fyo.” His eyes are on me, hot and telling. “Where the fuck do you think he’s been running off to every afternoon?”
I wordlessly warn him to shut his mouth, but I’ve never given him any reason to fear me, so my bluff does little good. “He sure as hell ain’t visiting the gym.” My nails dig into my palm when he steps closer to ensure his words are only for my ears. “Though I’m pretty sure he’s getting a thorough workout every time he enters the shower with her shampoo at the ready.”
He waits for an objection. When he fails to get one, because every word he speaks is true, he shifts his focus back to Fyodor. “If you truly want this, if you want him to lead this nation out of the trenches it’s been buried in for the past thirty years, you need her at Ark’s side.”
He doesn’t need to stray his eyes in the direction Mara went to announce who he is referencing. The absolute honesty in his tone exposes every detail of his plan and hides how much I am terrified that he is right.
10
MARA
“I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” Tillie nods before she loses her fight to hold back a tigerlike yawn. It’s been a big day for us both. “I love you, Tillie.”
“I love you too, Mom,” she replies before she hands the phone back to Mrs. Lichard.
“Don’t,” she warns when she spots the numerous apologies beaming from my eyes. “I love having her here, and we have almost a week’s worth of Home and Away and Neighbours episodes to catch up on.” My worry eases from the excitement in her tone. She loves Australian soap shows as much as Tillie does. “I just wish you weren’t taking the late bus home. You know it isn’t safe.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure her, confident in how well Maksim has cleaned up the streets of Myasnikov since he made it his hometown. “Are you sure you don’t want me to collect Tillie when I arrive home? I don’t mind.”
Air whistles between her teeth when she waves off my offer. “And have you interrupt my sleep? No, thank you. Unlike you, some of us need our beauty sleep.” Her expression switches from playful to mothering. “We will see you in the morning. Travel safe.”
I promise I will before disconnecting our FaceTime chat.
After tossing my phone into my bag, I rub the kink in the back of my neck. I’m exhausted. My roster was already bursting at the seams, but Rafael’s lie set it back an hour.
I had to scramble to finish all my assigned apartments, but I did it. All the residents on my ledger are sleeping in freshly made beds, and I’m a fifty-minute bus ride from doing the same.