Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“You killed my parents,” Chloe said, feeling tears fill her eyes.
“That is not exactly accurate. I didn’t kill your parents. They, unfortunately, were caught in the middle of a street war between our men and a couple of street pimps.” He shook his head. “Have you ever asked Roman what happened to those men involved?”
“No.” She sniffled and turned to look out of the window. Chloe didn’t know why he was telling her these things, or even why he was asking her questions. “I had no idea who he was, and I only found out on our wedding day.”
“Ah, yes, Roman did want to keep a lot of things secret. He had hoped to keep his true identity hidden for a short time. Don’t you find that interesting?” he asked.
“Why?” At the moment, everything seemed confusing to her. She didn’t know if she should be staring out of the window or looking over at him. Nothing made sense to her anymore.
Tears filled her eyes, but for some odd reason, they refused to fall. Her whole body felt incredibly heavy. Was this man going to kill her?
“Finally, we’ve arrived,” Zaitsev said, looking out the window. She saw they had come to a large iron gate.
Zaitsev rolled the window down and typed into the keypad. She didn’t see the code. Her heart was already starting to race and she felt sick to her stomach. She kept telling herself it was going to be fine, yet it was the last thing she felt. There was no way any of this was going to fine. How could it be? She wrapped her arms around her body, trying not to feel sick, but it was impossible.
The gates opened and the car slowly drove down a long driveway, which was completely covered on either side by trees. The shade didn’t help her to feel safe.
Zaitsev didn’t say another word until the car came to a stop at a beautiful country home. She felt the rumble of the car stop, and Chloe looked toward Zaitsev.
“You know, I have always considered Roman a great and personal friend.”
“You have?”
“Yes. When I came to him with you as my problem, I figured it would take him a matter of minutes to solve it, but then days turned to weeks, and then weeks into months. I had men follow him, to watch the two of you. Then I realized something, and I’m pretty sure I know it and Roman doesn’t have a clue.”
“What?”
“He’s in love. Roman has never avoided dealing with a problem before. Killing a woman doesn’t bother him, but you weren’t just any woman. You were a woman who’d been hurt because of bad judgment calls. His judgment calls. That day, he ordered his men to stand down. He already had a plan for dealing with the pimps, but they disobeyed his instructions, and in doing so, they ended up killing your parents and a few other people along the way.”
“My brother as well.”
“Killing your family.”
Chloe couldn’t believe she had corrected him. She had to have a death wish or something.
“Anyway,” Zaitsev said, and continued. “The street pimps were handled, and at the time, the men were punished. However, after the night he met you, Roman dealt with every man involved who had disobeyed him.”
“What?”
“Roman killed them all. He made sure the message was clear. No one disobeyed his instructions, but we both know why he did it, don’t we, Chloe?”
She opened her mouth and closed it.
“He did it because of you. He failed you that night.”
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”
Zaitsev sighed. “I try not to meddle too much in the lives of my men, but with Roman, he’s been like a son to me. I took him under my wing after his father’s death. I guided him, and now I’m going to make sure he has his happily ever after.”
He opened the car door and Chloe had no choice but to climb out and follow him. She had a bad feeling, but there was no place to run or hide.
They entered the home, and it smelled like chocolate chip and cinnamon cookies. So inviting and sweet. It made her mouth water. She closed her eyes for just a second.
Zaitsev grabbed her arm and walked her down a large corridor. Was this going to be the moment he killed her?
“I expected Roman to show this to you, but I don’t know why he continues to wait.” With that, he opened the door, and Chloe was shocked by what she saw.
This couldn’t be possible.
Chapter Eleven
Roman didn’t know exactly what game Zaitsev was playing, but as he arrived at his home, he saw the gates had already closed.
“Shit!”
He pulled up to the gate, typed in his code, and the gates chose that moment to be incredibly slow. It was driving him insane. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, attempting to be patient, but it wasn’t working.