Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“Find her.”
Liam nodded once and was gone, striding away at a pace that was almost running. Keira was as much little sister to him as she was to Aiden. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her on his watch.
Neither of them would.
Chapter Five
Dmitri Romanov studied the man in front of him. He’d sent Mikhail on an errand, and the man had come back empty-handed. “Explain.”
Mikhail seemed to shrink in on himself, a feat since he was built slightly to begin with. “I’m sorry, Mr. Romanov. If she was anyone else, I would have taken her regardless of her wishes, but she’s to marry you, and…”
And once he married Keira O’Malley, she would outrank every one of his men. None of them were sure what that meant exactly or how Dmitri would implement his marriage within the power structure, and it made them all jumpy. If Mikhail crossed Keira now and she held it against him later…
Dmitri understood why he was hesitant to take that step. It didn’t mean he forgave it.
“Mikhail, did I or did I not give you an order?”
His shoulders slumped a second before he got control of himself and straightened. “You did.” He managed to meet Dmitri’s gaze. “And with all due respect, sir, she would have caused a scene, and I judged that to be worse than to deliver her message.”
Ah yes, her message. If he wanted her, he was to come get her himself.
Despite everything, the challenge sent a thrill through Dmitri. He was a man who liked things in their place. He read people well enough that he could anticipate their moves with ease. There had been setbacks along the way, but he hadn’t been wrong yet.
Except when it came to Keira O’Malley.
The woman had surprised him at every turn, had pushed him to the limits of his control seemingly without effort. He wanted her—in a number of ways—and he had no business wanting her, future wife or no.
Then the rest of what Mikhail had told him penetrated. “You left her there alone.”
Mikhail gave a sharp shake of his head. “I left one of our men to watch her. To keep her safe.”
She had an uncanny ability to avoid her brother’s men and slip out unnoticed. It wasn’t in Dmitri’s interest to have her harmed, though he hadn’t yet fully dealt with the fact that the one most likely to harm Keira was Keira herself.
Her brother had cut her funds and threatened her cocaine dealers into blacklisting her, but Dmitri didn’t trust people who could be compromised for the sake of money. All it took for Dmitri to get things under control was making an example of the first one who defied O’Malley’s command and the others were too terrified to even go near her. She thought O’Malley was behind it, and Dmitri was content to let her keep believing that.
Other than ensuring that she wasn’t touched while drinking herself into oblivion, there wasn’t much either he or O’Malley could do about the alcohol abuse currently. That would change the moment she and Dmitri were married.
It was nothing more than guarding a future investment.
He ignored the way the thought felt like a lie and refocused on the man in front of him. “I suppose I’ll have to pay her a personal visit.” Now.
Wasn’t that why I came to Boston tonight in the first place?
He found her exactly where Mikhail said she would be, holding court in the midst of what looked to be an orgy. Dmitri counted six couples in the immediate area around her, all in varying stages of fucking. Through it all, Keira stared off into the distance, untouchable. She lifted her head and looked at him as he stopped a few feet in front of her, as if she could sense his presence. “You.”
At least the music was several levels below deafening at this particular party. It wasn’t always the rule with the places she frequented. “You requested my presence.”
She arched her eyebrows. “And do you always come when you’re called? Like a good dog?” Her words were slightly slurred, courtesy of the vodka bottle dangling from her fingertips. Judging from its current level, she was well on her way to blacking out.
Irritation rose, as unwelcome as his attraction to this waif. If Keira would stop turning the blade on herself long enough, she might realize what a weapon she could be. He still hadn’t decided if he wanted to encourage that revelation or stifle it.
Dmitri had the unsettling thought that he might not be in control of which way that realization would swing. And he liked that he couldn’t begin to guess which way it would go.
He held out a hand. “Come with me.”
“Sorry, but that ship has sailed.” She looked at the bottle of vodka as if just registering that she was holding it. “You had your shot—twice, in fact—and passed. Third time might be a charm, but there’s not enough alcohol in this place to convince me to make a fool of myself over you—again.”