Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
But even if I did, where would I go? To jail?
Surely, the discomfort of being here is better than jail.
Or so I’d like to believe.
The moment I looked in the mirror after Emily and the others finished, I saw a reflection of the woman in the wedding picture Adrian showed me.
Lia.
I’d become her and a tear nearly escaped my eyes at that thought.
Is there anything crueler than erasing one’s identity? Than wiping away the essence of their being as if it never existed?
Because that’s what I feel right now as I stand in front of him. I’m not Winter in his eyes. I’m already Lia, and he intends to cement that fact into the very marrow of my bones going forward.
He won’t be able to succeed.
I’m Winter Cavanaugh and I’m living on behalf of myself and my baby girl. No one will be able to erase those facts from my head, not even a frightening man like Adrian.
Bulky Blond and Crooked Nose are on either side of him. The bulky one doesn’t look at me, but Crooked Nose stares for a second before diverting his attention to his hands that are clasped in front of him.
There’s a red bruise on his cheek that I hadn’t noticed earlier and I don’t know why I dislike the sight of it. I don’t know this man, and I’m sure that if his boss told him to execute me, he’d do it in a heartbeat.
Adrian stands, startling me from my thoughts. He’s tall, dark, and handsome while sitting. But when he stands, towering over my short frame, I feel the need to bolt out of my skin.
He motions at me with his finger to turn around. I do, my cheeks flaming with pent-up anger. I know he thinks I’m of a lower class, but does he really consider me his pet or something?
“Is it to your liking, sir?” Emily asks, hopefully, expectedly, like his approval is the bane of her existence.
He nods once as I stop, facing him. Emily grins wide as if she has just pleased the king of the jungle and he’ll throw a reward her way.
“Here’s your coat, Mrs. Volkov.” She offers it to me and I put it on, thankful that it hides the deep-cut sleeveless dress. I might have small breasts, but their curves were showing.
Adrian grabs me by the elbow and leads me to the elevators. Bulky Blond and Crooked Nose follow after us but keep a distance. Emily and the rest of her staff stand in front of the transparent glass of the elevator as a show of respect.
Adrian must be someone important if he has guards following him everywhere and staff standing by as he leaves.
I don’t think he’s a spy, but he seems more dangerous than a simple businessman. I peek a glance at him. He’s still gripping me by the elbow, his touch gentle but firm. I know because when I attempt to remove my arm, he tightens his hold, forbidding any movements.
His message is clear: I’m to go along with whatever he pleases. I signed my fate to him the moment he coerced me into this.
Or maybe it was when he first saw me and decided I’d be his wife.
When was that exactly? When he saved me from the passing van? Or was it when he asked me to clean my face as if the smudges on his wife’s lookalike features offended him? Or did he perhaps see me in the shelter and has followed me since then?
The entire time Emily and the others transformed me into Lia, I kept thinking about how he found me in the parking garage. I didn’t sense anyone following me, and I have an acute awareness of my surroundings, considering my homeless status.
Ex-homeless now.
Any of my fellow homeless people would feel flattered by this opportunity, but my stomach has been knotting in and out of itself ever since Bulky Blond grabbed me by the hood and thrust me in his boss’s direction.
When we exit the elevator, Bulky Blond hurries to the car and opens the back door. That’s when I notice Adrian is only wearing a shirt and pants. “Your coat is upstairs. Should we go get it?”
“No.”
“But it’s freezing.”
He stares at me for a beat. “Are you warm?”
“Yeah, but I’m already wearing a coat.”
“It’s fine then.” He flattens a palm at the small of my back and places his other hand on top of the car to stop my head from bumping against it as he guides me inside.
My fingers tremble and I clasp them on my lap as I’m surrounded by the smell of leather from the seats. What is this feeling? No one should be this chivalrous yet terrifyingly dangerous at the same time.
But I have to remember that he’s not seeing me right now. He’s seeing Lia in me. I don’t know why that makes me want to reach out and…what? Remove myself from her skin? Would that even be possible anymore?