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)
I swallowed and climbed the final few stairs, then looked down. Ulp. I’m not scared of heights, but this was three floors straight down onto flagstones, and that would make anyone nervous. I very nearly turned around and went back downstairs. It was getting cold, it looked like the rain was about to start up again, and I could ask the chef to brew some coffee, or maybe a hot chocolate…
But Valentin looked so alone. Why isn’t Mikhail comforting him? Or Radimir?
I edged closer to him, then stood right behind him, but he still didn’t speak. Maybe he didn’t trust his voice not to shake.
Okay. Only one thing for it.
Very carefully, I stepped up onto the parapet and then slowly sat down–
One of my boots rocked sideways, and my leg shot out from under me. My ass came down hard on the edge of the parapet, and I slid, too scared to even scream–
Valentin twisted and grabbed me under the arms, an inch from disaster. “Careful!” he told me. Then, as I got myself safely seated, “Gennadiy would kill me if I let anything happen to you!”
I nodded my thanks, panting in fear. Then, as I processed what he’d said, a warm glow spread through my chest. When my breathing had settled, I asked, “Why do you spend so much time up high?”
He glanced across at me. “There are security cameras everywhere these days,” he told me. “But they all point down.”
That’s why we’ve never caught him, I realized. “You don’t have to worry about cameras here, though,” I said gently. I looked around. We had a fantastic view of the gardens. Was that why he came up here? Did he find them calming?
Valentin sighed. “Things are easier, from up here.”
I frowned, confused. And then I followed his gaze and realized where I’d gone wrong: I hadn’t been looking far enough. Valentin wasn’t looking at the gardens, or the streets around us, or anything nearby. He was looking at the city in the distance, with its swarms of ant-sized figures crossing crosswalks and colorful snakes of cars stopped at stop lights. It wasn’t about being high up. It was about keeping everyone at a distance.
I looked at the silver bird he wore around his neck, too small and delicate to be made for a man. “What was her name?” I asked quietly.
He slowly turned and looked at me, and I sensed his armor opening, just a little. “Ruslana,” he said. “Her name was Ruslana.” He turned away, looking off into the distance again, and I thought that was it. But then I felt his hand tentatively move towards mine. I took it, squeezed it, and we stayed like that until the rain started.
I’d only just come down from the roof, the first few drops of rain still glistening in my hair, when Gennadiy burst in, eyes wild. I felt my heart lift. “What’s going—MMF!”
In one movement, he’d grabbed me by the waist, pulled me to him, and was kissing me. I pinwheeled my arms for a second in shock and then melted into it. His tongue traced my lips, and then he was kissing me hard and deep, his hands running up and down my sides as if reassuring himself that I was real, that I was there. My back whumped into a wall, and he pinned me there, his big hands stroking down my legs and over my ass, and the kiss changed, becoming charged and hungry. Each touch of those strong fingers sent another ripple of urgent pleasure down through my body, becoming molten, liquid heat when it reached my groin. This man had the ability to take me from idle to redline in five seconds flat.
He finally broke the kiss and put me gently down, and I stood there shaky-legged and tender-lipped. “I just–” Gennadiy stared into my eyes and squeezed my shoulders so hard it was almost painful. Then he tugged me close again and this time just hugged me, burying my face between his pecs. A different sort of warmth spread through me, and I closed my eyes. This was what I’d been searching for when I used to take those epic, hot showers. Exactly this.
It was a long time before he released me. His forehead was creased with stress, and his cheeks were dark with stubble. He hadn’t slept in two days, and I wondered when he last ate. He was pushing himself too hard, just like I always did. “What happened?” I asked.
He sighed and sat me down on a big leather couch, hunkering down in front of me. “I saw Viktor Grushin,” he told me. “He’s coming after our businesses, after us: all of us are targets. He’ll destroy it all if we don’t stop him.”
I let my cop brain process that for a moment. Something didn’t feel right. “Why would he risk exposing himself just to threaten you? That doesn’t make sense.” I frowned. “Unless there was an ‘or’.” I searched Gennadiy’s face: he was a good liar, but I’d spent so long watching him, I knew every tell. “There was an ‘or,’” I muttered. Gennadiy looked away guiltily and my jaw dropped open as I got it. “He wanted me!”