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)
“That’s good.” She releases a breath.
“I’m sorry I got you involved in this,” I shouldn’t be apologizing on behalf of Lia, but she was a selfish woman. Not only did she leave her son behind, but she also got other people involved, knowing full well that Adrian would eradicate them.
I wonder why she tried to escape him. It couldn’t be because she was feeling invisible like me.
For some reason, the knowledge that their marriage wasn’t as solid as I thought relaxes me a little.
I’m such a horrible person.
But even that small relaxation doesn’t last. It doesn’t matter that she tried to escape. Adrian still cares about her. He still dotes on me because he thinks I’m her.
“Let’s go back inside.” Rai smiles at me. “Sergei will call us for dinner any minute now.”
“All right.”
I’m about to leave when I feel eyes watching me. I pause at the balcony and peer down. There are a few guards stationed outside. One of them is Adrian’s driver, who’s smoking a cigarette and talking animatedly with another guard, probably in Russian. They all speak in Russian at the house. Even Adrian addresses them in Russian, unless I’m around. That’s when he switches to English. Jeremy knows a few expressions, too, but I think he still has trouble with mixing both languages together.
I’m about to chalk the sensation I just felt up to paranoia, but my skin prickles again. The feeling is so strong, I visibly shudder.
I search the men standing downstairs for a few more seconds, then my eyes roam over the vehicles parked in the distance. That’s when I see it. A shadow stalking silently between the cars. Only his back is visible as he disappears in the midst of the parking area.
Just like the shadow from my recent nightmare.
My legs shake and my breathing deepens until I’m aware of every inhale and exhale.
It’s paranoia. Only paranoia.
The nightmare was just that. A nightmare. There’s no way a shadow from my subconscious would jump into real life. That must’ve been one of the guards doing his rounds.
My phone vibrates in my small purse and I jump, my nerves getting the better of me.
Only Adrian ever texts me on this phone. Unless it’s Ogla? I told her to call me if something happens to Jeremy.
I retrieve the phone so fast, I nearly drop it.
It’s not Ogla.
A text from an unknown number lights the screen. I click on it, the sense of dread from a few seconds ago gripping me by the throat.
My purse hits the ground as I read the text.
Unknown Number: You have one mission. Pull the fucking trigger.
24
Adrian
Lia hasn’t been herself since we sat down for dinner.
Her body is rigid, and every now and then, a shudder grips her and she drops her fork. Then she picks it up again to drag it through her food. Her hands are moving, but she rarely brings anything to her mouth. Since she came from the streets, meals have been sacred for her.
Not this one.
I knew bringing her here wouldn’t go completely without problems. When I saw her talking with Damien and Kirill earlier, I fantasized about the million ways I wanted to cut both those fuckers’ throats, but I settled with tapping my fingers against my thigh to not show disrespect to Sergei. Or worse, give him an incentive to attack.
He’s been focused on me more than usual tonight, and the last thing I want is to confirm whatever is going on through his head.
Vladimir, who’s now sitting across from me, hasn’t addressed me the entire night. He’s huge, bulky, and has a beard that gives him a scary appearance to the outside world. The only time he speaks more than needed is when Rai is in sight. He pledged to protect her and the Sokolov last name from a young age. That’s basically his driving force, which means he doesn’t concern himself about other matters.
While I haven’t figured out his angle about me, I know his loyalty runs deep for Sergei because of his last name. If the Pakhan gives an order to eliminate me, Vladimir will be the first to make it happen.
At the dining table, there’s an easy chatter in which he doesn’t participate and just nods when Rai whispers something to him. Kyle quickly steals her attention because he doesn’t like her talking to anyone but him.
A small sigh leaves Lia, and even though I make it my mission not to look at her in public, I’m tempted to sneak a peek. It’d be a break in my pattern, something that Vladimir, Rai, and especially that fucker Kirill would notice.
My high alertness about this night is turning me into a paranoid dick, like Mikhail.
In the six years I’ve been married to Lia, I’ve treated her like a stranger in public. Everyone in the brotherhood thinks she means nothing to me, and that the only reason I have a sickly doll-faced woman by my side is because of an unplanned pregnancy.