Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
“You are going to wait,” he argues with her. His voice is muffled, like he might be covering the mouthpiece. “You and I need to discuss the terms—”
A scuffle sounds. I lean forward, straining to listen to every second.
“Fuck.” Markus mutters.
“Markus!” I swallow hard, caught up with this rush.
“Sorry, boss. This woman is trying to run off and avoid—”
“Stop her.” I order it without thinking. It’s instinct, this need to know where she is. Through all these weeks of her being absent in my life, I could have sought her out. Viktor could’ve easily provided me with all the details that could lead me to finding her again. I haven’t reached out once. I ignored the pull to see her again, waiting for my usual drive to work nonstop to erase her from my memory. But it hasn’t worked. She’s still in my thoughts and my dreams.
Now that I’m hearing her again, there’s no chance of me shutting off this obsession.
“Excuse me, sir?” Markus asks.
“Do not let that woman leave. Keep her with you until I arrive.” I end the call, having the last word. He won’t disobey me. He’ll do as I say. I have no doubt about it.
“Change of plans?” Viktor asks with his usual mild intrigue.
“Yes.” I lean forward to speak to the driver directly, impatient to reach Liliana now. I order him to track down Markus’s location and get us there fast. As I sit back and try to regain my composure, I fight through the anticipation and raw excitement of seeing her again. “He has Liliana.”
Viktor raises his brows in silent question. “Liliana Baranova?”
I nod, noticing how he hasn’t forgotten her either. Then again, he’s like that, always on top of every detail, big or small.
“Is she contacting someone to complain about the cost?”
I frown, lost.
“Sorry. Is she contacting someone to complain about the payment?” He tilts his head to the side, seeming confused. “She wasn’t pleased that you paid for the damages to the cars, both ours and hers. But I didn’t think she would actually pursue how she could pay it back.”
I huff, amused all over again that she could be so honest. That she has so much integrity and hates charity. It’s so different from what I’m used to with Elena and Roman, with most of the world, while I sit at the top of the food chain as the mafia boss of this city.
“She voiced her concerns about that?” I ask for clarification.
He nods. “Yes. She was respectful, yet insistent. She claimed that she isn’t the sort of person to ever take handouts.”
I can’t help but smile. That sounds just like her. Determined to give, not get. It’s so rare that I want to savor every second of it. When I feel his stare on me, probably wondering why I’d be grinning about a woman, I mask it immediately.
“But it’s been weeks. The less I heard from her, the more I assumed she was going to give up fighting the coverage of the accident.” He’s not done, still frowning. “Is she contacting Markus to refund the money?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.” I have no clue why Markus is talking to Liliana or making her hash anything out with him. I don’t have to wonder much longer, though, because we’re there. The driver pulls up at the curb, and I’m out before he’s fully stopped. Viktor follows me, and as I rush down the sidewalk, I pull my overcoat tighter and squint against the blowing flurry. Spring is supposedly right around the corner with March nearly here, but the weather says otherwise.
“Where is she?”
Markus cringes at the sight of me approaching. He shakes his head. “She took off.”
Fuck!
“Where?” I demand. I can’t give up this chance to see her again. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s insanity. But hell, if I see her once more, I can test the theory that I can go on with only work filling my life, not this fling.
He points down the sidewalk. “She just took off that way and I couldn’t follow her. She slipped away.”
“In a car?” I demand.
“No. On foot. She was running down the sidewalk,” he replies, looking more worried and confused by the second.
“Fuck!” I want to lash out and take out my frustration on him, but there’s no time to waste. I secure my coat and drop into a jog in the direction that she went. “Stay with him and find out more,” I shout back at Viktor.
Running off like this with the darkness claiming the evening isn’t wise. Having bodyguards and security is imperative, but the driver can come with me as I hunt down my obsession.
The obsession I never wanted.
The obsession I can’t allow myself to make time for.
Yet, I sprint down the sidewalk, determined not to lose her again.