Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Come in,” he said.
He turned to see James entering. “Sir … er…”
“What is it?”
“The Russo girl is in the kitchen and the staff don’t know what to do.”
Damon frowned. “What?”
James repeated it, not that he needed him to. With there being no warmth in the house, he had to put the guards on wood duty, chopping and gathering it.
Milah should have stayed in her room, beneath the covers, not in the kitchen.
Brushing past James, he made his way toward the kitchen, and sure enough, his staff kept a distance from her. Even the chef didn’t want anything to do with her.
There was like a wall around Milah, and he stared at the woman, wondering if she cared at all that many people couldn’t stand her just because she was a Russo.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Milah looked up. She wore a large turtleneck sweater with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. He didn’t see what she wore underneath as she also wore an apron. Her long raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her face that had seemed so pale the past few days was finally blooming with color. Her cheeks were a little flushed.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked. “I’m cooking.”
“If you plan to poison me, don’t bother.”
“As if I would know how to get poison. No matter what you think, De Luca, I am simply coming here to cook. My mother—” She stopped. Her lips pressed together, and he watched as she also paused in her cutting.
“Your mother what?”
He wasn’t interested in what she had to say. If she didn’t answer him, he’d have the guards escort her out of the kitchen.
“My mother always said that a casserole always had the ability to warm the body. She would … make this whenever there was a snowstorm.” Milah wouldn’t look at him, but he heard the catch in her voice.
Damon stared at her.
She was … upset. The snowstorm reminded her of her mother.
He’d never met the woman, but sources and spies had told him she was a lovely woman. Sweet and kind. Not a good match for Russo.
“I will not intervene with your staff or your chef. I only ask for a small space, a few ingredients, and a pot. That is all.”
“What do I get out of it?” Damon asked.
Milah looked up, and he saw that she’d gotten herself under control. “You don’t have to worry about me running off.”
“I don’t worry about that anyway.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
She was a foolish woman.
“You will come to my room tonight.”
Her jaw clenched.
What would she do?
“Fine.” She looked down and got to work.
He smiled. “Make sure she has everything she needs.” He nodded toward the chef to keep an eye on her.
Milah may not be able to get her hands on poison, but there were enough cleaning products within a house to make it quite easy to harm someone. He wouldn’t put it past her to try.
After leaving the kitchen, he made his way back to his office and found himself more curious than he liked.
At his desk, he pulled out his key and unlocked the bottom drawer. He grabbed the file and flicked it open. It held all the details of Milah, of her life. Where she went to school. Her grades. Even people she associated with, which were none. Milah was closed off to everything and everyone.
No one wanted to be friends with a Russo. He wasn’t surprised. They were the enemy.
There wasn’t enough information on her mother.
He grabbed his cell phone and dialed his man who liked to be known as Genius. Damon entertained him because so far, no matter the request, he’d been able to supply.
“What’s up?” Genius asked.
“I need you to find some information for me on, Edith Russo, previously known as Flynn.”
“Are you sure? The woman’s dead, sir.”
“I know she’s dead, but I want to know everything. Every tiny little detail.”
“All the dirty stuff, got it.”
“Soon.” He hung up and placed the phone in front of him on the desk. Milah was cooking in his mother’s kitchen.
He gripped the edge of the desk and decided to go to the security room, which was located on the first floor.
His guards were all busy, and no one called to distract him.
Entering the computer room, he saw all the screens were blank. He typed in his password, and the screens came to life. Every single one that was around his property, from the front gate, through the forest, and all around the house.
He typed in the code to bring up the kitchen, and he stood, watching Milah.
No one approached her. His staff kept a wide berth, and Milah just chopped away.
She didn’t get in anyone’s way, nor did she threaten anyone.
One of the maids approached Milah, and he watched her look up, and for the first time since she got here, she smiled. Actually smiled, and he gritted his teeth.