Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
She tilted her head and studied the mask that settled over his face. He might joke with her in an effort to put things right between them, but how was he ever going to make what happened to her right? He couldn’t. Her eyes were still a little swollen and very bruised, but she still gave him that penetrating look of hers. She knew he was bullshitting her, trying to throw her off the subject.
If he voiced his underlying fear aloud, it would give her an opening to tell him she wanted to leave as soon as she was able. The worst of it was he knew the merry widows and Doug and Carlton were on their way from San Francisco. Doug had called and made it very clear that they were coming to see “their” girl, whether he approved or not. It wasn’t said in so many words, but the resolution was there. She would have a way back to San Francisco if she wanted to leave.
He knew the merry widows would take care of her. They’d be more than glad to have her in their homes while she was recovering. He might be able to convince them the doctor didn’t want her traveling yet, that the danger of infection was still too high.
“Talk to me, Andrii.” Her voice was very soft. Persuasive. Loving.
“I can’t lose that.”
“What can’t you lose?”
“The way you look at me. That tone in your voice.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me you’re out of here the moment you’re able to fend for yourself,” he admitted. “The widows are coming with Doug and Carlton to see for themselves that their little chick is alive and well. You know they would do anything to be the ones to take care of you through this.”
“And you think I’d want to go with them?”
He couldn’t read her this time. Not even her speculative tone. “I told you I’d protect you, and I didn’t. I thought Billows was dead and you were safe. They pulled your protection and didn’t tell me. I should have checked that Rock was still on you, but I went to the debriefing with the thought that once it was over, I could get back to you. It didn’t occur to me they’d send Rock to look after the women.”
She didn’t ask who Rock was. She didn’t ask about the women or what that meant. She looked at him, her eyes looking like two bruised flowers pressed into her face.
“You haven’t asked a single question, Solnyshkuh. Not one.” He ran both hands through his hair in agitation. “It stands to reason you aren’t asking because you’re leaving me. You don’t want to know because, like with Billows, you know things I do aren’t exactly legal.” Harshness crept into his voice.
She sighed. “I haven’t asked you any questions, Andrii, because I’ve been in so much pain and I didn’t want to think about what happened. I know my fingerprints are in the club, and once the cops sort through everything, they’re bound to think I was involved with whatever the Billows family had going on. I wanted to enjoy the way you were spoiling me, not making me think about anything that happened or was going to happen. I figured you would talk to me about everything given time.”
He turned away from her, swearing at himself under his breath. “There you go again, baby. The voice of reason. That’s supposed to be me.”
He got her laughing with that absurd statement. The sound was low and cut off with a gasp that had him swinging around to face her again. “Don’t laugh, Solnyshkuh.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“I love you.” He blurted it out like an idiot. “As in real love. The real thing.”
Her expression changed. He got that look from her he craved. So loving. Almost adoring. She didn’t seem to think he was being a pussy when he confessed insecurities to her.
“I didn’t know I was capable of feeling love. I didn’t even know if such a thing existed until you came to me. I saw Czar with Blythe and Reaper with Anya. And others with their women, especially Savage and Seychelle, but I still didn’t get it.” He knew she had no idea who he was talking about, but he wanted her to understand how overwhelming, just how big it was that he realized love was real. That she was real.
“We’d been tracing a human trafficking ring for well over two years. We finally got the names of a couple of people the women were sent to after they were taken. Billows’ responsibility was to train them as sex slaves before they were auctioned off. After they were trained, they were shipped to the next rung in the ladder, the man holding the auctions.”
“That’s where I came in,” she murmured.