Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I sit back and say nothing. Anger seethes through me.
Satya, that traitor bitch. I treated her like family. I brought her into my inner circle and trusted her. I let her watch my daughter and gave her everything I could.
And now she’s repaying me like this.
It makes me sick with hate. I want to make her suffer. I want to burn Medved to the ground just so I can reach her.
“You did good.” I take the phone back and shove it in my pocket. “I’ll be back when we know what our next move is.”
“He’s not stupid, you know,” Gabe says as I walk to the door. Lady unlocks it for me. “Medved’s not going to saunter into a trap.”
“No, maybe not, but he’ll happily send his pawns in his place.”
I step into the hall and pause as the door clicks shut.
Fucking Satya. This whole place feels tainted. There have been too many betrayals. Maybe Lucy’s right and I’ve been too trusting of my people.
But I have a choice. I don’t have to run my organization through fear. I can surround myself with people who want to be here, people who aren’t terrified and who will speak to me with honesty and dignity, or I can stock the Fortress with sycophants and yes-men.
The choice felt obvious for a while. I’m not so sure anymore.
I’m unhappy until I step foot back into the apartment. It’s late, and I was worried that Rosie would be in bed already. Instead, she’s cuddled up on the couch with Allie while my wife reads a book.
I walk over to them. Allie glances at me but keeps reading. It’s one of those cardboard things with a fun-sounding nonsense story and lots of brightly colored hippos doing silly things. Rosie loves it when the hippos go crazy in the middle. I watch as Allie finishes, and Rosie laughs and begs for it again.
I step forward, laying a hand on my wife’s shoulder. “May I?”
She looks surprised. “You want to read to her?”
I nod slowly. “Would you like that, Rosie-doll?”
Rosie reaches for me. I lift her into my arms and accept the book from Allie. My wife looks absolutely mystified. “If she doesn’t mind, it’s fine with me.”
I carry my daughter up to her nursery. We sit together in a rocking chair, and I read the stupid book three times until she seems sleepy enough. I kiss her hair, breathe her in, and place her down in bed with a blanket and a single stuffy. She looks at me with big, sleepy eyes.
“Night, love,” I whisper.
She sucks her thumb and smiles back.
I find Allie waiting for me in the hallway. She looks like she was worrying. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s totally fine.”
“Rosie can be kind of fussy at night.”
“I know that. I handled it.”
“You read the book? Rocked her a little?”
“Exactly the way you do.”
She chews her lip. “I’m sorry if I’m being overbearing. It’s just, she’s all I’ve had. It’s been just me and her since she was born.”
“I understand that.” I lead Allie downstairs, pour her some wine, and sit with her on the couch. She drinks and puts her feet in my lap as I tell her about the plan with her brother.
She doesn’t seem happy about it. “You don’t think Medved is going to see through this?”
“That’s the beauty. It doesn’t matter if he does or not. All I need is for him to send Satya or someone else here. I just need an inch of leverage to use against him.” Mostly I want to kill that old bitch desperately, but I keep that to myself.
I pull Allie closer and wrap my arms around her. She tilts her chin up and accepts a kiss. I hold her mouth against mine, tasting her and breathing her, and something strange occurs to me.
This is normal. Oddly, freakishly normal. We’re parents sitting together after putting our child down to sleep like millions of parents have before. But we’ve never quite had this before.
It’s domestic and simple, and it feels good.
“Can I ask you something?” She brushes her lips across mine, moving her hips in a slow, rhythmic circle. I’m stiffening between her legs.
“I won’t be able to think clearly with you doing that.”
“If I hadn’t been about to marry that other man, would you have taken me like this?” She grinds harder, her breaths coming faster.
“Eventually. I don’t think I could have resisted for long.”
“You can’t resist me?”
“There’s something about your womanly charms.”
“Says the man with the hard dick.”
“I told you, blood’s going in the wrong direction.”
She smiles and bites my lip. “I’m happy you did. Kidnapped me, I mean.”
“I’m happy I did too.” I grip her hair, hunger flaring bright. “My only regret is not murdering a man and forcing you to marry me sooner.”
“I could’ve done without the killing, but I guess the end justifies the means, right?”