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)
“They insulted us. Maybe you could let it stand, but I wasn’t going to.” Mae lifted her chin. She’d never be a beauty, but she was strong and vicious, and Alethea had spent her life teaching Mae the ins and outs of their world. Not that the girl had listened. She liked blood too much, liked others’ pain. That tendency could be valuable in an enforcer, but in an heir?
“Some insults are worth bearing if it will get you closer to the end goal.” She wouldn’t get through to her this time any more than she had the last few.
The temptation rose to just… walk away. To take what little money they had left after getting Mae out of jail and leave. Go west, or maybe take a flight to Europe and lose themselves there.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Alethea set it aside. Her mother hadn’t raised her to be a coward any more than Alethea had raised Mae to be one. Several generations of Eldridges had spent money and blood carving out a place for themselves in New York, and she’d be damned before she let that upstart Russian drive them out.
There was no way out of this as long as Romanov and O’Malley were alive. O’Malley, they could avoid if they stayed in New York. He was new to his power and, with an upcoming wedding and a healing fiancée, he would be focused on Boston.
Nothing would distract Romanov. He had more at stake, and it was his territory they currently stood on.
No, the only way out was through him. He was the last of his family in the city. His extended family might not like it if she took him out, but anyone they sent to deal with her would be an outsider, and that would work against them.
Alethea opened her eyes, a plan already forming. “You will obey, Mae. Our very survival depends on it.”
Mae stared at her with those cold, cold eyes, and Alethea caught herself wondering if she could draw the gun in her purse faster than Mae could get to whatever weapon she had secreted on her person. Then her daughter smiled. “Of course, Mother. I wouldn’t dream of disobeying.”
Dmitri stared at his phone. They’d been back in New York for hours, and he’d expected a call from Aiden O’Malley. The man wouldn’t be able to let Dmitri taking his little sister go without at least an attempt at a fight. The fact that he hadn’t called wasn’t a good sign.
He drummed his fingers on the desk, irritated at himself. He’d told Keira that her brother was safe.
Fuck. Dmitri didn’t lie. He didn’t have to, because most of the time he held all the cards. It was a simple matter of playing the right ones to ensure the people around him acted accordingly. He’d told Keira that her brother was fine because he’d assumed it was the truth. If he was wrong, she’d accuse him of lying to her.
He grabbed the phone and dialed from memory. Come on, you Irish bastard. Pick up. The phone clicked over, and then Aiden was on the line. “You two-faced piece of shit. You must have bolted the second you left that warehouse to collect Keira.”
Dmitri exhaled slowly. Aiden was alive. He hadn’t lied to Keira, unwittingly or not. He hated that he’d doubted himself, even for a moment, and that irritation had him sniping at the other man. “You did promise that she and I would be married. Were you going to break your word, Aiden?”
He ignored that. “And you promised her a choice.”
“She had a choice. She chose me.” Under duress and with a healthy dose of manipulation, but Dmitri had never promised to play fair. He wanted Keira, and so he ensured that he acquired her. End of story. It was done, and Aiden damn well knew it.
“I want to talk to her.”
“That’s not an option. She’s resting.” More likely, she was drinking herself into oblivion. He’d recognized that wild look in her eyes when she walked away from him. It was the same one he’d seen the few times they’d interacted at the raves she always seemed to be at.
But if he didn’t throw Aiden a bone, the man would undoubtedly do something ill advised. “She’ll call you tomorrow. I’m sure Charlie needs time to recover, and you’ll be wanting to focus on that.”
“Don’t tell me what I should or should not be focusing on. Charlie wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place if you took care of your own territory. Don’t think I’ll forget that.”
This was getting them nowhere. He shouldn’t have called in the first place, should have waited for Aiden to contact him, but Dmitri at least had the answer he’d needed. “Your opinion is noted. Have a nice day, O’Malley.”