Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“I don’t understand. I thought we were going to get Nikolai.”
“We are, but I’m not going to do anything to put you at risk.”
“This is ... is this because I’m a woman?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes and turned toward her. “Have you ever killed a man? Have you ever been able to shoot a gun without a single provocation? How many men and women have you killed?” he asked. He just fired those questions at her. “What is your training? Can you take an attack?”
“You know I can’t,” she said.
“Exactly. You want me to take you into a potential war zone without any experience.” He reached out and cupped her face. “I never go without a plan, and if I do, it’s because I know the odds. I’m not going to put you in danger. It has nothing to do with your sex.”
And with that, he took possession of her lips and stepped back, putting the lock into place.
He hadn’t exactly worked on this safe house. It was a crumbling pile of ruins, but it had everything they needed—shelter, a place to rest, food, and the means to come up with a plan that didn’t mean certain death. Making his way to the kitchen, he went to the fridge.
He had a habit of stockpiling food, especially the kind with long shelf lifes. There were a lot of vacuum-packed meats and cheeses, ready for the time when he used the safe house.
This place didn’t have a lot of food, as he tended to use it as a last resort. Pulling out some meats, he went to the cupboards, grabbed a few cans of food, and quickly threw everything into a saucepan, bringing it to a boil as he grabbed a couple of bowls.
He let the water in the pipe run for a few minutes before he washed everything.
“You’re cooking food.”
“Are you hungry?”
She didn’t even have to answer that as her stomach started to rumble.
“I guess, I’m just not used to ... well, you know, being able to eat at a time like this.”
He chuckled. “It’s another thing you’ve got to learn.”
“How can you be so calm?”
“There’s no way I cannot be. If our theory is correct, Gnesin needs us alive. We don’t know if they have him drugged, if he’s even alive.” He shrugged.
“And you don’t care?” she asked.
Dmitriy looked down into the pot of chili. It was not going to be the greatest chili ever made, but it would fill a gap.
“You do realize if Gnesin is trapped, killed, or whatever the outcome, it could mean I killed a lot of people on the instructions of our enemies. Including your parents,” he said, and then he turned to look at her. He watched as she took a deep breath.
“I can live with that. Bad shit happens all the time. I was following orders, but I have to ask you, Anastasia, can you?”
She didn’t look away. “I don’t ... yes, I can.”
This made him frown and Anastasia went to him. She went to reach out for him, but then hesitated. She went again, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in close.
“Yes, I can handle that.”
At first, Dmitriy didn’t know what to do. His woman was holding him, comforting him, and in all his life, he had never been granted such affection. He had never experienced hugs in his life. Certainly not by his parents.
Seconds passed, and it could have been minutes, or even a lifetime, then he grabbed her, and pulled her in against him, and didn’t want to let her go. Not ever again. He pressed his face against her neck, breathing her in. She was his heaven. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
And then, he heard her stomach rumble. He pulled away and looked into her blue eyes, and she offered him a smile. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” He reached out and touched her chin. “More than fine.”
The chili had been bubbling for a good five minutes, and it was starting to smell like it was about to catch. He didn’t want to eat crap food that was scorched, and he quickly pulled it off the stove. He gave it a stir, missing the bottom, and then dolloped it into the bowls.
Anastasia hadn’t left his side, and she reached for her bowl and followed him as they walked toward the table. The table itself was scratched.
“What is this place?”
“It’s an old abandoned house. For a long time, no one would come here because they thought it was haunted.”
“Was it?” Anastasia asked.
“No, a couple of people died, that was all.”
He saw her eyes had gotten wide. “Of old age. No paranormal activity. They had lived a long life together. Fallen in love when they were teenagers, no kids, no family, nothing to hand this down to. For a long time, it was left derelict and stuff. I purchased the land, which included the house, and I’ve been intending to fix it up, but it’s one of those projects I haven’t gotten around to.”