Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
And fuck, the way my chest had constricted… Giving in to him had been inevitable.
Blowing out a soft breath, I pushed myself up from the floor and headed to the bathroom. Taking a moment, I braced my hands on the counter, then stared down at them, avoiding my reflection in the mirror. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to focus on breathing—deep breath in, long slow breath out. I repeated that over and over until I had myself back under control again. Then, I splashed some water on my face, dried my damp skin, and pulled my phone from my pocket.
I might be unraveling, and I might be treading into very dangerous territory with Ivan, but I still had a duty to my family. I needed to let James know what was going on so he, Jaxon, and Darren could sit down and figure out a course of action on their end.
I took a seat on the edge of the bed as I waited for James to pick up. When he didn’t answer, I sighed and lowered my phone from my ear. More than likely, he was with Emmaline. Nothing short of a bomb exploding would make him step away from her.
Adrian:
Don’t worry about calling back. I’ll get in touch with Darren. He can fill you in.
After hitting send on the text, I dialed Darren’s burner phone number and raised my phone to my ear. He answered on the second ring. “Not often you call me. Guess you couldn’t get through to James?”
“No,” I told him. “Figured he was with Emmaline.”
“Probably,” he grunted. “What’s up? How are you? James lost his fucking shit when he heard about the plane crash. I think he threatened to shoot Ivan in the face when he found out you almost died.”
I snorted a laugh. Bet that had gone over well.
“I’m better,” I assured him. “Was bed-ridden for a few days, but Ivan made sure I got the best help available.” Bracing my elbows on my knees, I leaned forward and rubbed at my temples. “But I didn’t call to check in. Igor did some digging while I was out of it, and he found out some interesting shit.”
“Oh?” Darren asked, sounding much more interested in the phone call now. “Do tell.”
“Inessa’s uncle, Boris, is having an affair with Inessa’s mother, Ninel. And apparently, the man is the one spreading all the info about our family.” Darren cursed. “It seems that when he visited, he would take the opportunity to more than likely snoop in our offices.”
Darren’s teeth audibly ground together. “Only way he can do that is if he knows the guard schedule, which is fucking impossible. Even I don’t know the goddamn guard schedule. Jaxon keeps it too mixed up.”
I nodded in agreement, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I know. Which means we have a rat on the inside. I need you to make James and Jaxon aware of this as soon as possible, yeah? I’m going to stay here in Russia and try to drag Boris out of hiding and deal with him. And also make sure he isn’t working with someone else.”
Darren heaved a tired sigh. “A man doesn’t go snooping like that unless he’s being paid for information, or he’s seeking revenge. Just need to figure out which one is his motivation.” He was quiet for a moment, so I remained silent as well, letting him gather his thoughts. “Mother fuck,” he finally muttered. “This is a cluster fuck of epic proportions.”
“Yeah,” I muttered in agreement. Everything was now a cluster fuck of epic proportions, my life being at the top of that list.
“I’ll fill James and Jaxon in. You stay safe, you hear? I’m not looking to bury you.”
I snorted. “I don’t die that easily, fucker.”
We ended the call, and I stood, slipping my phone into my pocket. Blowing out a soft breath, I rolled my shoulders back, steeling myself to face Ivan again so soon after the moment we’d shared just a few minutes ago. Being on my knees for him had made me much more vulnerable than I’d been when I was sick and he was taking care of me or when he was on his knees for me with my cock down his throat.
Locking all my emotions down tight, I left my room and headed down the stairs, following the scent of food to the dining room. When I entered the room, three pairs of eyes lifted to look at me, but the person’s stare who burned the hottest was the man sitting at the head of the table with a steaming mug of coffee raised halfway to his mouth.
His lips twitched with an aborted smile, and my heart tripped in my chest.
Yep—I was so fucked. There was no helping me now.
13
Ivan
When Adrian stepped into the dining room where me, Igor, and Mark were waiting for him, he looked like he’d swallowed a cactus, and it took a lot of restraint not to outright smirk at him. I was fucking gloating on the inside that he’d submitted to me. That he was willing to give me control of him. But I knew that submission was still extremely fragile. Showing even the tiniest hint of amusement or cockiness when he looked like he wanted to flee from me was not the move to make.