Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 143453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Hell, even when I pointed a gun at him, he wasn’t afraid. He was more like resigned.
He said he’d let me go home.
He embraced me in his safe arms and danced with me under the rain.
We were going somewhere and now we aren’t.
Now, he’s being held down by Kolya’s massive hand as he stands like a wall behind him and Papa points a gun at his forehead.
And the worst part is, he looks ready to kill him, and not just in a normal way, no. This is the second time I’ve witnessed Papa’s detached murderous face. The first was during my attempted kidnapping. His face is set, lips thinned, and his eyes are so dark, they’re unable to reflect the light.
I’ve always known Papa killed people, but this is the first time I’ve seen him as a killer.
A cold-blooded, ruthless killer.
His men circle us with methodical stratagem, all tall, dressed in black, and with assault rifles slung over their chests. It’s like they’re out to snuff out a rival organization, not a simple college student.
I search every face, but there’s no sign of Yan or Boris—the only two who might get on my side. They were probably left behind to protect Mom.
“You have the audacity to kidnap my daughter?” Papa’s calm words reverberate in the gloomy air, but the amount of rage that bubbles beneath the surface leaves me panting.
Creighton stares him straight in the face, his gorgeous features sharpening, showing no hint of backing down.
Grown men beg and implore in his position, especially if they know who Adrian Volkov is and what he’s capable of.
Not only is Creighton not panicked, but he also apparently has a death wish. Because he says, “Just like you had the audacity to take her from me in the first place.”
Papa hits him with the butt of the gun, sending his face flying sideways, and blood explodes from his lips.
“Papa!” The blow might not have been directed at me, but I feel it deep in my soul, and I don’t think about it as I run to Creighton.
To the gorgeously haunted man with demons who refuse to leave him alone.
“Stay back, Anoushka.” Papa stares at me, still holding the gun to Creighton’s forehead.
The way he looks at me is different from the way he regards the world. He’s not an emotionless killer right now. He’s a worried father with molten eyes and a rigid posture.
I can only imagine what he, Mom, and Jeremy have been through during the time they didn’t know where I was.
“Did he hurt you?” he asks slowly, menacingly.
“No, Papa. Please let him go.”
“I will do that after he’s tortured to within an inch of his life. I’ll hang him from the ceiling and lash his skin for every day he thought he could take you from your family.”
A full-body shudder slashes through my limbs and it takes everything in me to remain standing. “Papa, please…don’t.”
“Do it.” Creighton bares his bloodied teeth in a snarl. “Torture me. Kill me. Stab me to death then continue slicing my corpse like you did my father. You shouldn’t have left me alive back then, but now is your chance to fix that mistake. If you don’t kill me, I’ll come back over and over, and fucking over again.”
“What the hell are you saying? Shut up!” My limbs shake and a shiver skids through me and it has little to do with my wet clothes.
Papa tightens his grip around the gun, probably considering whether he wants to torture him first or just kill him and get it over with.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Creighton speaks to me, but his cold gaze is locked with Papa’s. “Isn’t your family everything that matters? I’m making it easier for you.”
It hits me then.
The realization is so fierce that I stumble a step back, my flip-flops sinking in the sand.
All this time, all those words, all that torture was because he thought I was choosing my family over him.
That I would always pick my family, the people who were behind his childhood misery, over him. That I would force him to either accept them or I wouldn’t stay with him.
How did my attempts to free him from the past become falsified to the point where it’s now the complete opposite?
“That’s not…” My voice gets stuck in the back of my throat. I’ve always found it easy to talk about everything and nothing, but now I’m stunned into silence.
I can’t find the right words to relay the explosive feelings whirling inside me.
“Your biological father was a scum and died like a scum. He assaulted my wife when he was clearly ordered to protect her, so I killed him,” Papa says coldly with enough cool to make me shiver. “Your biological mother was of a similar breed, too. They both deserved their fate, and as I told your adoptive father, I will not apologize for protecting my family. However, you were only a kid and didn’t deserve to suffer the downfall of their actions, which is why I made sure you were adopted into a good family.”