Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
I shot him a smirk, earning a middle finger against his coffee cup.
It didn’t wipe the grin off my face as Katya made her way to a seat as far away from us as possible.
Smart girl.
She looked so small sitting at the dining room table as if she was a long-lost princess who’d just been rescued by the king.
Too bad this fairy tale was more rescued by the villain, breakfasting with the monster.
What a great premise for a story.
Katya straightened her shoulders and stared straight ahead, not making eye contact with either of us. She was wearing a pair of white sweats and a matching sweatshirt with black slides. Her hair fell across the bruises on her face, shining like white gold. “Is that coffee?”
“Yes.” Andrei flicked his wrist in my direction. “You heard her. She wants coffee.”
Oh, he had to be shitting me.
When I didn’t move, he shot me a glance that said he would gut me from head to toe if I didn’t serve his sister.
From assassin to babysitter, and now maid. Great.
“Right. Away,” I said through clenched teeth as I grabbed a mug from the middle of the table and then the carafe of coffee, pouring it nearly to the rim and walking it over to her side of the table. “My lady.” I offered sarcastically, delivering the drink with a flourish.
She stared at the coffee, then up at me, her eyes wide with horror. “You have, um, blood still on your—”
“Yes, I know,” I grunted. “Apparently, the water here is complete shit at washing away all our sins. Tragic, really… since your brother has so many.”
“Enough,” Andrei said simply.
“Go ahead.” I scooted the mug closer. “It’s not poisoned, you know. Or do I need to take a sip before you do?”
Her eyes flashed with anger and then fear.
With a curse, I grabbed the mug and sipped. “Better?” I asked as I replaced it in front of her.
I hated that her hands shook despite the glare on her face as she took the mug and sipped. Her eyes fluttered closed just briefly enough to show pleasure, and I found myself watching her mouth longer than necessary.
Andrei cleared his throat. “I have a proposition for you, Katya.”
“Ah, so you save me, and now, what? You’re going to give me a million dollars? Make it all better? Pay me off? Send me away? Really, I can’t wait to hear what you have—”
“Yes. Yes. No, and no, I don’t believe I will send you away.” He got up and slid what looked like a brand-new iPhone down the table. “Your passcode is Tiger. On that phone, you’ll find all of the bosses’ contacts, an app that unlocks your new Mercedes, and in your notes, the password to your bank account at Abandonato Financial, where you’ll find your trust for twenty-seven million dollars fully intact for your use. As for sending you away, I’d like you to stay. I’d like you under my roof until the scales of trauma fall from your eyes. If I had it my way, I’d ask for thirty days. And if you want to leave after that, fine. But for saving your life—that’s what I ask. That’s your payment. The cost.”
She gritted her teeth, her blue eyes burning with anger. “You saved me, but what about my brother? What about him!”
Andrei stood, hovering over the table like an angry weaponized human. “I was too late for him—but not for you. Just be glad that the jackass I hired is the best in the business, or you’d be buried under fresh dirt, not sipping coffee served in china that costs more than a new Ferrari.”
She nearly dropped her mug, hands shaking as she set it down on the table and nodded. “Just thirty days?”
“Just thirty days,” he confirmed. “Stay here, under my protection, heal—mentally and physically—and decide what you want to do.”
“Fine.” She cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair. The giant white sweatshirt she’d been given to sleep in looked huge against her frail body. “I’ll stay thirty days.”
“Good.” Andrei drummed his fingers against the marble table. “Santino will, of course, be your shadow while you’re here. I’ve moved his things into the bedroom next door should you find yourself waking up from nightmares—he’ll be the one to sing you a lullaby. He’ll be at your every beck and call, and if someone threatens you, he’ll find great joy in ending them, won’t you, Santino?”
I could barely breathe.
I knew he wanted me to protect her.
But this?
This was next level.
“Andrei, I don’t think—”
“I should go so you two can get better aquatinted.” He grinned. “Oh, and my threat still stands, Santino, touch her, and I will break each offensive finger and feed them to Roxy.”
“Roxy?” Katya repeated in horror.
“His tiger,” I clarified. “Not the cat currently trying to whore itself around your legs…”