Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
The rest of the drive was silent, tense, the air in the car thick with unspoken threats and promises.
I spent it sending texts to Pavel and Kostya. They had a lead on the guns and as soon as it was confirmed, we were going to go get the arms back, satisfy our contract with the Colombians and, if he was there, I was going to kill Solovyov myself. Just for the fun of it. Just to feel his life drain away under my hands.
This had gone too far. It ended now.
Pavel also had his orders to deal with Ivan. He wasn't a bad kid, but he fucked up and there needed to be consequences. If I were the one to handle it now, he wouldn't survive. My rage would demand blood, not just pain.
So Pavel was going to deal with it. While I dealt with my little escape artist. I hadn't decided exactly how I was going to punish her yet, but it would be brutal. She wouldn't be forgetting this one anytime soon. The memory would be carved into her flesh and soul.
Pavel had arranged for Viktoria and me to stay on Gregor's estate. A quiet cabin that was part of Damien's property and was far enough into the woods for privacy, but close enough to be under the same surveillance and security protocols.
She would be safe there, and there was absolutely nowhere for her to go.
No trains to catch, no streets to disappear into, no strangers to help her escape the monster who claimed her.
It was a little after eleven when we finally pulled up, gravel crunching under the tires. Viktoria was pretending to have fallen asleep against the window, her breath deliberately slow and even, but the tension in her shoulders gave her away.
"Get up," I said, grabbing the back of her head, fisting her silken hair.
If she thought the drive down here was going to be enough to soothe my rage, she was seriously mistaken. If anything, it only let my anger fester, building pressure like a volcano ready to erupt.
CHAPTER 27
ARTEM
I had thought about every monster her father had pissed off or owed money to.
The list was extensive, each name attached to a face more brutal than the last.
Then every single asshole that would love to take a shot at me.
Not just Solovyov. There were others.
None who were genuine threats to me, but if they got their slimy hands on Viktoria, she'd never be the same. Assuming she survived at all.
With my hand tangled in her hair, I led her into the living room and ripped her small weekend bag out of her hands, throwing it across the room where it hit the wall with a satisfying thud.
"What are you doing?" she cried as I pulled her toward the bedroom, her feet dragging on the polished hardwood floor.
"You are being punished. Fighting me will only make it worse." My words dropped like stones in still water, each one causing ripples of fear to wash over her features.
"Wait, Artem, stop, please. I have something I want to say." Her voice had shifted from anger to something softer, more calculating.
"Every second you stall, the worse it's going to be. Do you still have something to say?" I arched my eyebrow as I dared her to keep going, to test the razor's edge of my patience.
She swallowed and took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling with the effort, gathering her strength before nodding and looking me in the eye.
The bravery there almost gave me pause. Almost.
Letting go of her hair, I put my hands on my hips, ready to grab her if she tried to make a run for it. "Then speak."
Her eyes went around the room again while she wet her lips, the pink tip of her tongue leaving a glistening trail that caught the light, and I undid my belt, pulling the leather from the loops on my slacks with an audible whoosh that made her flinch.
"Look." She still couldn't meet my eyes, so she pulled her hoodie off and gazed around the room as if she was trying to figure out something, her mind working faster than her mouth. "I didn't understand that I was in trouble. I know my father did bad things, but it didn't even occur to me that his enemies would try to get to me. What you said makes sense and I want to apologize."
"Apologize?" The word tasted foreign on my tongue, suspicious.
She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and nodded, leaving indentations in the plump flesh.
Then she stepped forward, reaching out to undo the button on my pants, her fingers trembling slightly but her movements deliberate as she dropped to her knees, the sound of them hitting the floor sending a jolt of arousal through me.
"Instead of punishing me for being bad, why don't you let me apologize like the good girl you want me to be," she said softly, looking up at me, her big blue eyes framed by thick lashes spiked with unshed tears. Her nose nuzzled the outline of my cock straining against the fabric.