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)
She didn’t get a chance to ask him what he was talking about as Dmitriy walked back into the building.
“Fine, we will do this, but we’re also going to do this my way. There is no room for error on this. You go in, and I follow soon after. Jack watches everything, and we hope we make it out alive,” Dmitriy said.
“Great, so does that mean you two are staying the night?” Jack asked. “I’m making tacos.”
For the rest of the night, Dmitriy was silent, and Jack filled the silence with his love of favorite television shows. Most of them Anastasia hadn’t heard of, because she didn’t watch a lot of television. Watching movies and make-believe was what had gotten her in this position in the first place.
Dmitriy also didn’t go to bed with her. He stayed up, watching the Gnesin house, and Anastasia took a shower alone, and she felt so lost. She wanted Dmitriy’s arms wrapped around her.
If what Jack said was true, then that might mean he actually had feelings for her, and she wanted him to have those kinds of feelings for her.
She tried to get some sleep, but it wasn’t happening. She didn’t know if it was because she was in a strange house, or just everything that was going on. Either way, sleep wasn’t coming, so she got to her feet and made her way toward Jack, who was playing a constant live feed of Gnesin in his cage. Dmitriy was there, watching. It looked like Gnesin was asleep.
“Are you not coming to bed?” she asked.
“They only feed him a little food. Enough to not kill him, but not enough to make him strong,” Dmitriy said. “Bastards.”
“We’re going to figure this out,” Anastasia said.
“Jack told me what you said, your worries about your family.”
She shrugged. “Don’t you think there is a chance that could be the case?”
“I suppose anything is possible. They help Gambino take Gnesin out, and that gives them the perfect reason to take out the Babkins. They’re trying to cover their tracks.”
“It’s scary to think that is what my parents did,” she said.
“Then be happy in knowing it might not be true,” he said with a shrug.
“It’s still not good.”
“Nothing about this is good. We won’t know the truth until we get to Gnesin.”
“He may want me dead,” she said.
“Let’s see.” He pulled her onto his lap. “Because I am not going to let anything happen to you, do you understand? Nothing.”
And he kissed her.
She wanted to believe him, but if Gnesin gave the order, he was going to have to follow it through.
Chapter Eleven
Anastasia tried not to be nervous, but that was next to impossible. She felt like the guards were staring at her a little more closely. They were certainly talking to her more, questioning about it being a miserable day. They never talked to her and were never friendly.
Jack had said he would be watching, and now as she stepped through and got changed into a uniform, she had to wonder if they could trust Jack. If the Gambino family could get to her family and clearly offer them something no one else ever could, they could get to anyone.
She was so nervous. Every little noise and snap made her feel like she was being watched, and she couldn’t even get lost in her work. By lunchtime, she felt like she was going to throw up. The guards were there, rounding up the staff, and Anastasia followed them, but as they got to the door, she asked if she could use the bathroom.
The guard looked like he wanted to refuse, but she quickly bowed her head and said it was women’s troubles, and she even made reference to a leak. Yeah, this was perfect, embarrassing a man about a woman’s menstrual cycle. This is what she had seen on television a thousand times, and much to her surprise, it actually worked. The guard let her go to the bathroom, and he had such a disgusted look on his face, he didn’t even follow her. His Italian accent was thick, but he told her to come straight out, or he would hunt her down.
Anastasia went in the direction of the bathroom, but the moment she heard the door close, she also felt how still the house was. She was right, the guards went on their dinner break as well. Holy shit. This might actually work.
She kept hold of her lunch, because she was going to give it to Nikolai when she found him. Dmitriy was worried about the food he wasn’t getting, and she didn’t want him to be upset. Also, talking about her menstrual cycle, and even though this was not the ideal time to think about it, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was pregnant. She and Dmitriy were not wearing any protection.