Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Alison looked up and caught me looking, then raised an eyebrow. I could see frustration in her eyes, but also hurt...and hope. She wanted answers. And Radimir was scowling at me from across the room: he wanted to know what the fuck was going on, too. Blyat’.
We talked business with Finn for half an hour, with Finn kicked back in his desk chair and lovingly ruffling Mikhail’s dogs when they came over to curiously sniff at him. Mercifully, when it came time to leave, the rain was still hammering down, and we had to run to our cars, so I dodged having to talk to Radimir...for now.
As soon as we were inside my BMW, though, Alison turned to me expectantly. The anger flared and started to spin: I was mad at myself, and at what I knew I’d have to do. I started the engine, refusing to look at her.
“Gennadiy,” she said, with a softness that hurt my chest, “we need to talk.”
I shook my head, still not looking at her. “Nothing to talk about.” The anger was still building. Wanting her this badly and having to push her away...I wanted to scream and smash and destroy.
I could feel her staring at me. “What happened with Emanuela. With Finn, just now.”
I made the mistake of glancing across at her and, instantly, I was locked into those sapphire-blue eyes. A lifetime of suffering had hardened them, but right now, they looked perilously close to fracturing, full of cautious hope. I could do it, I could make her happy right now.
But she deserved better than a monster, all twisted up inside. To save her, I had to push her away. I had to hurt the woman I wanted to protect.
I took a shaky breath and turned to face her. I let the unfairness of it whip the anger faster and faster, using it to power me. “Listen!” I snapped. “I saved you because it suited my needs. I need you alive so you can find out who’s behind this.”
“The kiss—”
“The kiss was a mistake!” I leaned closer, hulking over her. “I’m not the hero of your story, I’m the villain. I don’t save people, I kill them. I don’t build; I burn things down. And I don’t fall in love, even with—” I bit it back. I’d nearly said even with you. “With anyone,” I muttered.
She was staring at me as if I’d slapped her, and the pain and betrayal in her eyes nearly broke me. I just wanted to grab her face in my hands and kiss her…
Instead, I faced front and threw the car into gear. I did what had to be done, I told myself. And tried to ignore the voice that told me this was really about something else, about the dark void at my core. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alison sit back in her seat, blinking quickly. She wrapped her arms around herself and blyat’, it nearly broke my heart.
I drove. The rain was torrential, now. Even with the wipers on full, the road disappeared between wipes, and the wheels sent up white fans of spray behind us. But I kept my foot hard down, desperate to be out of the car so I couldn’t feel the pain I’d caused.
A car slammed into us from the side. The wheel flew under my hands, burning my palms, and I wrestled with it as the car fishtailed left and right on the wet road. Blyat’! My face flashed hot. I’d been driving too fast, given how wet it was. I must not have noticed someone pulling out—
“Gennadiy!” Alison yelled from beside me. She sounded panicked, for someone as cool-headed as her. Why is she—
There was a roar of automatic gunfire, and the side windows disintegrated as bullets tore through the car. I pushed Alison down and hunkered as low as I could. On instinct, my foot crushed the gas pedal to the floor, and the car surged forward. The gunfire took out the rear side windows and then the rear window as we pulled away from them.
I got my first glimpse of them through the driving rain: a big white SUV with a dark-haired man pointing a stubby submachine gun out of the passenger window. Chyort! They were accelerating, catching up to us. I looked around for Radimir’s car or Mikhail’s, but they were out of sight. Chyort, chyort, chyort!
The SUV came alongside us, and the gunman fired again, hosing the car. Unlike in the movies, cars aren’t bulletproof. Bullets chewed through the doors, flew through the cabin, and ate their way out the other side. I could feel bits of plastic trim and leather hitting my face, arms, and ankles. Any second, a bullet would tear through us…
My blood turned to ice water. A bullet would tear through her.