Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 80942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
But it’s not only pleasure that beats under my skin whenever I’m inside her.
It’s something deeper, darker, and would freak her out if I ever found the words to voice it.
Lia wraps her arms around my neck and smashes her lips to mine, kissing me with a desperation that flows in my blood and reaches into my fucking bones.
“I love you,” she whispers against my mouth, her breath stuttering. “I love you so much, Adrian.”
I groan, her words hardening my dick all over again as if I didn’t just empty myself inside her.
Before I can act on that or sort out my own words, she smiles a little, her breathing evening out and her lids closing. Then a tear escapes one as she falls asleep. I kiss it away, tasting the salt and her unsaid words.
I pull her to me and she snuggles into my hold, sighing when I cover us both.
We sleep wrapped around one another so tight, she’s the only thing I breathe. She smells of roses and sex and belonging.
Lia is the only person I’ve ever wanted to belong to me, no matter how illogical and impossible that is.
A tap on the door pulls me from sleep’s clutches.
I check the clock on the nightstand to find it’s only six in the morning. Lia is sprawled all over my chest, breathing against my skin.
Another knock comes before Kolya’s voice surges through. “Emergency, Boss.”
Sleep immediately leaves my brain as I slowly ease my wife to her back and cover her. Kolya isn’t the type who would call a situation an emergency unless things are indeed getting out of control.
I pull on a pair of pants and a shirt, which I don’t bother buttoning as I step out of the room, closing the door behind me.
My second-in-command stands in the hallway, his eyes bloodshot and a frown etched between his brows. He’s in barely put together army fatigues, which means he was also urged out of sleep.
“What is it, Kolya?”
“Sergei is demanding your immediate return.”
“What for?”
“Vladimir.” Kolya runs an agitated hand through his blond hair. “He brought forward evidence that you’re behind Richard’s death.”
“What type of evidence?”
“I don’t know, but it’s strong enough that Sergei and the others are livid. They’ve been calling me non-stop the past hour since they couldn’t get a hold of you.”
If they’re putting their weight into this, it’s definitely serious.
“Prepare to leave.”
“Boss, no. You have to stall until you find something to counter their accusations. Staying here for a bit longer will placate their anger.”
“Or make it worse. Sergei will think I’m guilty.”
“You are guilty, Boss. You shouldn’t have killed Richard.”
“He touched Lia. I would kill him a thousand times over if I got the chance to repeat it.”
He runs his hand through his hair again. “There’s something else.”
“What now?”
“Mrs. Volkov might not be what we’ve thought all along.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Since Yan was drunk last night, I managed to make him talk.”
“About?”
“The night she was kidnapped. Boss…Yan heard it all. She knew the man, and from the information we gathered, he was indeed Luca Brown.”
“I suspected as much. But why would that make Lia not who we thought she might be?”
“According to Yan, Luca told her she had one mission.”
“What mission?”
“He didn’t mention that, but here’s the thing, Boss. If my speculations are correct, it has something to do with your assassination attempt at Mikhail’s party last year. Since Luca hired that Spetsnaz he killed and threw off the cliff a few weeks ago, all evidence points to the likelihood that he also hired the mercenary we found dead at the party.”
Kolya’s words strike me like a lightning bolt and I have to take a moment to steady my breathing. “What does Lia have to do with any of that?”
“Mrs. Volkov was the one who pulled you down right before the gun went off. I didn’t think about it much at the time, just figured she had a quick reflex. However, the facts are that she saw something before you or I or even Damien and Kirill did, and she couldn’t actually have quicker reflexes than the four of us or Kirill and Damien’s guards. I believe that the only way she could’ve managed to pull you down that fast is because she knew about the hit beforehand.”
Even though I’m hearing him and I’ve somehow come to the same conclusion myself, I don’t want to believe it. “Yan could’ve lied.”
“Not when he’s drunk. He begged me not to say a word, said he believes she didn’t mean to and must have had her reasons. But what reasons could those be?”
“Kolya…” I grind out. “You’re saying that my fucking wife had a hand in my attempted assassination.”
“And that’s why it’s the only attempted assassination we haven’t been able to solve. You’re too blinded by her to see it.”