Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
He escorted her back to the table, and before he’d stepped away, several couples had already made their way onto the dance floor.
Mikhail needed a few minutes. Leaving the main hall, he went straight out to the back and took several deep breaths of air. The spa and restaurant had a beautiful scenic garden. He stared out across the lawn, seeing the superficial beauty. A lot of money was put into trying to keep it all contained and looking pristine. He hated fake.
Mikhail didn’t know when he started to hate the false, the fake, the superficial, but it was a pet peeve of his. He loved things to be a little wild.
“Sneaking out of your engagement party … has my sister pissed you off already?” Peter asked, coming in and offering him a drink.
He declined and turned to look at Peter, who had both drinks in his hands. A waiter suddenly appeared, and Peter placed both glasses on the waiter’s tray, and that left them alone, in peace.
“No, Galina hasn’t.”
“Ah, then that must mean it’s the size of the party. Our parents do like to be extravagant.”
“In doing so, they put a target on your sister’s head.”
Peter shrugged. “Galina can handle it.”
“Can she? I thought you said she wasn’t a fighter, nor would she shoot.”
The man beside him clicked his tongue. “Yeah, there are those pesky problems. Dad got so fed up with trying to train her, he instead just hired a bodyguard. Now that he won’t allow her to leave the house, I think it makes life easier.” Peter shrugged. “I tried to help, but she refused to learn, and she nearly killed me when I gave her a gun.”
This made Mikhail laugh.
There was no way he would be able to allow Galina to go through life without learning a few self-defense skills, and using a gun. He didn’t know how long their parents wanted this engagement to last. He figured they would be married within a few months.
Running a hand down his face, he turned to look back at the shitty garden.
“You know, my sister comes off as being a stick-in-the-mud, or at least as if she has one rammed up her ass, but that’s all for show,” Peter said.
“Are you trying to help me with your sister?” Mikhail chuckled and turned to see the smile wiped off Peter’s face.
“I know what you did. I know why you did it, Mikhail. I know my sister and we don’t always see eye to eye, but I do love her. She’s my little sister and when everyone was willing to call me a fuckup and turn their back on me, she didn’t.”
Peter had a problem, or used to have a problem, with alcohol.
Unlike Mikhail, where killing came naturally to him, Peter was different. Killing had been difficult for him. He struggled to take life, but over the years, Mikhail had helped him. Peter’s first kill had been a husband and wife. They were traitors, but Mikhail knew it hadn’t been as clean-cut as that. The husband had ratted on them, not the wife, but the punishment had to stand. Both were killed. It fucked with Peter’s head, especially as he later found out she’d been pregnant with a child. Peter turned to drink.
Mikhail had no idea it was Galina who was Peter’s angel.
“Money, power, and greed drives everyone, not Galina. Vik would have … you know what he would have done,” Peter said.
“You don’t need to say anything more, Peter. What’s done is done. Galina will be my wife. I’ll make sure of it.”
Chapter Two
Galina wanted to stay in and honestly have a pity party over the fact she was due to be married. For the last four years, she had convinced herself she wasn’t going to be married. Her father had said he was looking for a husband for her, but one never materialized. Then she heard her parents talking about a Vik Kuzlov.
She knew who Vik was, and she didn’t like him. He was fifty years old, and there was a cruelty to him that was easily detectable just by looking at him. She had seen him at many events, most of the time with a woman covered in many bruises. He was also rarely with the same woman twice, so alarm bells always rang for her. Also, his previous four wives had all passed away mysteriously. No one dared to pin the problem on Vik. Rumors often spread, but nothing ever came of them. There was always some excuse as to why Vik couldn’t have done it. Either way, marriage to Vik made her terrified.
As for Mikhail, he just infuriated her. The bully. Ugh, that was exactly what he was. Like now, she didn’t want to go out and party, but Mikhail had insisted. In their world, he was the one who got to do what he wanted.