Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Oh, honey, if Alexei has followed my orders today, the amethysts should be charged for a couple weeks. By then, I’ll be able to charge them.”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out, so I have to try again. “You don’t have a connection to the crystals, remember? You can’t charge the gems.” Has she completely lost her mind?
“No, but I will have a good connection soon.” She licks her lips like a cat who’s discovered a cream-filled bowl.
I tilt my head. “Wait a minute.” I remember the prenatal vitamins that she dropped onto my desk and a horrible thought runs through my mind. “You’re saying that . . .”
“Yes,” she says. “Alexei’s father and I used in vitro for both Hendrix and Cal. I have several more viable embryos on ice with his very strong and talented DNA, and it’s time to use them. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”
I flatten my hands on the table. How am I going to steal the guns from both of these men without getting shot? I have to get out of here before Alexei does something stupid and tries to rescue me.
“So you’re pregnant?” I ask softly. “With Alexei’s half siblings?” How does this make any sense?
“Not yet,” she says. “I go in tomorrow for implantation. My doctor wanted me to take the prenatal vitamins for two months first, but I’m going to tell you a secret that most people don’t know. When I was pregnant both times with Sokolov babies, I was able to charge the crystals.” She giggles. “You have no idea the power that goes through your entire body when you’re able to do that.” Her eyes light up as if she’s telling me about the best experience ever.
I feel sick.
She sighs. “I’m going to have the doctor implant three this time, because we only did one each time before. So if I have three, surely one of them will be able to harness the crystal power someday. I’ll just do my best while I’m pregnant.”
I frown, trying to follow any sense of logic in her. “Okay. So say you give birth to triplets, but then you’re not able to charge the crystals any longer while they’re just babies. Have you completely lost your mind?”
She slaps at my hand playfully. “The ability actually lasts for a good five years after the pregnancy.”
“It does?” I’m intrigued even though I don’t want to be.
“Yes,” she says. “Last time, anyway, and I was only pregnant with one child. Who knows? It might last fifteen years this time. If not, triplet five year olds can do the job.” She taps her finger against her pink lips. “Or I can get pregnant again, I guess.”
Everything inside me freezes. I don’t think I’ve ever been in the presence of evil before right now.
There’s a ruckus and then the doors open. Two men shove in Alexei and then they retreat before shutting the door. He looks at both of the guards and then at me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice gravelly.
“Physically I am,” I say. “Emotionally I’m going to be fucked up for quite a while.” I might as well give him the truth.
He looks at Lillian and then stands in the middle of the room, his legs braced. Power fills the oxygen around us, along with a terrifying tension. His eyes are a darker black than I’ve ever seen them, but there’s something different about him. His shoulders even seem wider, and wild muscles ripple beneath his clothing.
“I see you charged our servers,” Lillian says, smiling.
“I did,” Alexei says.
She claps her hands. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. I have tons of guards around this entire property, and there’s nowhere for you to go now that you’re here. You have no backup, and we both know it. Being a romantic myself, I thought you might want to say goodbye to each other.” She pulls a nine millimeter out of a pocket on the side of her skirt.
I push away from the table and stand, throwing my napkin on my teacup. “You have a gun?” I glance at the tea and cookies. “I thought you were trying to poison me.”
“I was. There seemed something poetic about that,” she muses. “I figured everybody would think Alexei tried to poison you if anything was found in your system.” She glances at the gun. “I’ve never watched anybody die from poison. Oh well. Maybe next time.”
Unbelievable. “She killed Hendrix and had Blythe murdered,” I blurt out in a rush.
Alexei looks like he turns to stone as he focuses fully on Lillian. “You murdered your firstborn?”
Her browse draw down slightly. “I’ve always done what needs to be done to save this company.”
“She’s going to have in vitro with three babies tomorrow,” I say, wanting to get all the truth out so he understands everything. “So she can charge the servers.”