Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Mikhail studied her. “You can’t win. You have to know that.”
“Do you have any children, Mikhail?”
His expression instantly shuttered. “Nyet.”
It was a lie, but she chose to let it stand. Mikhail was only a means to an end. Hunting down his family was a waste of time and resources—but it wouldn’t hurt for him to think otherwise. “It wouldn’t matter. Fathers are wonderful, but ultimately replaceable. There’s nothing in this world as pure as a mother’s love.” She picked up the scalpel Mae had left behind and cleaned it in the bathroom sink. “My mother created a safe space for her children to grow up in. I merely expanded it for mine. All I wanted was the freedom to operate as I saw fit. I’d bend a knee to Romanov, but being his lapdog was too much to ask.”
“You are not special. Everyone who swears allegiance to him is treated the same.”
“And if they’re not, he plots their deaths.” She set the scalpel down on the sink with exaggerated care. “He would have killed Mae and me simply for being too good at running our territory within his territory. I won’t stand for it.”
“Mae is psikh. She will kill you in the end.”
She shook her head and forced the ball gag back into his mouth. “That’s enough out of you. I know my daughter’s faults better than anyone. It changes nothing.” She would move forward with her plan through sheer self-defense. Alethea took no pleasure in the thought of killing every man and woman inside the Romanov household, but she’d do what it took to survive.
To do anything else went against her nature.
After Dmitri had walked out and left her sitting there on the floor, a few things had become clear to Keira—the main being that Dmitri was right. He’d thrown her a life raft, but he couldn’t force her to climb in. He hadn’t been playing a game or a part when he’d stormed into her bedroom. With the exception of the two times they’d hooked up since she arrived in New York, it was the first time she’d seen him without his carefully mocking mask firmly in place.
If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he cared whether she was sober or not—and not only because he needed her not to embarrass him.
He’d offered to make her his queen.
She didn’t know what to do with that. He didn’t have to make her his partner, even if it was the illusion of being a partner. Queen to his king. All the power she’d craved, but no more freedom.
There was no freedom for Keira. It was time she made her peace with that.
She pulled herself from the floor. Nothing good came from poking at their last interaction, to go over it again and again, peeling the layers away to try to get to the good stuff beneath. He’d offered her what was essentially a business transaction, but if she didn’t set the terms now, he’d try to steamroll her just like he had in the past. He wouldn’t be able to help himself. Dmitri was a force of nature, and her being his wife wouldn’t save her from his machinations.
If anything, she was more at risk than anyone else.
She padded downstairs on bare feet, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone on her way to Dmitri’s office. The door was closed, but no one was around to tell her to stay out, so she opened it and slipped into the room.
And stopped cold.
Papers and pens and the phone lay on the floor, scattered as if Dmitri had swept everything off his desk in a rage. Considering how clean said desk was, that had to be exactly what he’d done. He bent over it, his hands braced on the shiny surface, his shoulders heaving as he dragged in a breath. Oh my God, I’ve broken the Russian.
“Romanov?”
He didn’t look at her. “Now is not a good time.”
She skirted the junk on the floor and sank into the chair across from him. Last time she’d seen Dmitri, he was furious, but this was something else altogether. Her gaze fell to the phone. “Something happened.”
“Keira…” He dropped into his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. She could almost see the wheels turning, see him considering if he should tell her or order her out of the room. Holding her breath wouldn’t do a damn thing to push him one way or another, but she did it all the same. Finally, Dmitri sighed. “You know the feds arrested Mae Eldridge after what she did to Charlie.”
“Yes. They all but caught her red-handed. Even if the Eldridges have people in the FBI, if they hadn’t arrested her, it would have been suspicious.” She had a feeling Aiden was behind the suspicious timing of the police showing up just as he was rescuing Charlie, but there was no point in confirming. He’d gotten Charlie out safely. Mae was arrested.