Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
CHAPTER SEVEN
Harper
The day goes by in a sort of blur. I’m plucked and primped the preened until I feel like I’m ready for the red carpet. It’s a small group, though.
“I tried to hire help,” Polina says. “I had a hair stylist and a makeup artist and all sorts of specialists coming. I wanted to give you the best possible chance at knocking everyone’s socks off. I wanted every rival mafia group in the country to be drooling with jealousy.”
I look around the room. It’s me, Polina, Aria, one of Polina’s staff members, and a sleek little gray cat who happened to make herself known to me this very morning. Apparently, she’s Aleks’s and only likes him, but she wrapped herself around my legs and purred like we were old pals.
“Oh, she likes you,” Polina says. “Hisses at everyone else but she’s your buddy.”
Something in my chest loosens when she purrs. I’ve always wanted a cat, but my parents prohibited us from having pets.
“So what happened with the others you tried to hire?” I ask curiously. I’m fine with the smaller group but just curious.
She rolls her eyes and plants her hands on her hips. “Aleks, of course, the control freak. No one sees my future wife in her undergarments but her sisters,” she says in a perfect imitation of Aleks’s mild accent. “The more people we have, the greater the risk of a breach of security.”
I smile at her imitation of him, but a little pang of jealousy hits me. Is this what she grew up with? Men who actually cared about her wellbeing? It’s so foreign to me. My father would’ve taken out a loan to hire a team to prepare me so that I looked flawless and perfect, with no concern about what I wanted or my modesty, and my brother did anything my father made him do.
There’s a knock at the door. Since Polina’s hands are in my hair, she nods to Aria. “Can you get that?”
Aria fairly waddles over to the door. “One of the staff with some refreshments. Thank God, I am famished.”
Polina snickers and winks at me. About an hour ago, Aria ate a fruit cup and a bagel laden with cream cheese, then rummaged through her purse for a packet of mixed nuts she downed in seconds because she said she was still starving. When that wasn’t enough, she found a bowl of dinner mints and polished off every one of them.
“Someone’s getting close to labor, I think,” Polina whispers in my ear. “Her body’s fueling up with all those practice contractions.”
I smile at her. I’ve barely even met these two but feel like I’ve known them forever. I’m as excited as they are for the baby’s arrival.
“Here,” Aria says, bringing the tray of food over. She slides it onto the dresser. “Oh God, this looks so good.”
“Help yourself.”
She bites her lip but is clearly holding herself back. She looks hopeful.
“But you’re the bride, you need to eat!”
“I’m not really hungry.”
Her eyes light up and she’s reaching for a wrapped sandwich when her phone rings. With a sigh, she puts it down.
“It’s Mikhail. Gotta take this. You two need anything?”
“We’re good. Go, appease the baby daddy so he doesn’t cause any drama on the wedding day,” Polina says with a wave of her hand.
“Girls,” Aria says, coming back with a look of concern. “Mikhail says something strange has happened with your socials, Harper.”
“My socials?” I don’t have my old phone, just a new one Aleks got me “for safety” that I haven’t even used yet.
“What happened?” I ask, shaking my head.
Aria sighs. “Looks like someone tried to attack you. Hacked into your account and posted a bunch of things. Couldn’t have been you, I’ve already hacked in and checked the IP address of whoever posted, and they were nowhere near here.” She frowns. “You wouldn’t have posted these things, anyway.”
Do I even want to know?
My new phone rings with the newest name I’ve entered into my contacts.
Aleksandr Romanov.
My heart races. I’ve replayed this morning in my mind over and over and over again. I have mixed feelings, to say the least.
I can’t think of that now. I can’t think of what will happen when we’re alone.
I try to hide the tremor in my hand when I answer the call. “Hello?”
“Delete your socials. All of them. Someone’s trying to get a grip on you by slandering you, and I won’t allow it. Do not argue with me, Harper. If you—”
“I will happily delete them. Are you kidding? I hated them.”
Polina looks at me in surprise. She shares a look with Aria.
“Do it now, on the phone with me.”
I take my new phone and go to each page, one at a time, to delete them. With every deactivated account, I feel a little bit lighter.