Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
"He began repeating words, over and over again, and some of the sentences he formed made no sense. He was completely incoherent at one point, and I had a difficult time following him. He repeated things that he already told me. He cannot recall some recent events or conversations that we had. I could even tell by the way he dressed himself, he has significant impairment of his cognitive and physical abilities.”
Interesting. "This would explain why he's made advances on my family despite the fact that I'm married now.”
"Precisely. We cannot assume that Volkov will obey our rules. You know that if we had passed the moratorium without you getting married, we would have been at risk. But I'm telling you, we are at risk now. And if it’s true he ordered an attack on your mother—”
"It is true. We just interrogated the intruders. It was his men that attacked."
Kolya is quiet for a minute. "You and Aria are in grave danger."
I quickly consider my options. With a snap of my fingers, I could command Nikko to assassinate Volkov. We could even make it look as if it were an accident, but right on the heels of the attack from his men, I don't trust the blowback to not be severe and annihilate us.
We could threaten him, but the same potential threat remains.
"He was confused, Mikhail. He called me Ilya several times. He was disoriented. And he made strange accusations. He's always been irritable, but this time it’s much worse.”
"I see."
"My suggestion is that we try to impair him in ways that are not as obvious. Psychological manipulation. A threat to his assets and safety.”
"Aleks and Aria will be thrilled."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Aria
I lie against the pillows, my belly temporarily happy after breakfast. Mikhail brought me breakfast in bed this morning after promising to massage my feet with his strong, capable hands.
He does it every day.
"Why the feet? I asked him the other morning.
"I've heard that it is one of the best ways for someone to pamper a pregnant woman. Your feet get tired carrying the extra burden of a baby within you."
I moaned. He is excellent at this with those thick, strong fingers of his as he massages the achiness out of my feet.
"Mikhail, I’m not that far along."
I mean, aside from maybe a few extra pounds from the late-night pizza and fries I've been craving.
"Does that matter?" he said. I wondered why his accent was suddenly thicker. It’s usually only this way when he feels emotional. I noticed a little furrow between his brows.
"Mikhail?”
"What?"
"Something’s troubling you."
We’ve both been a little out of sorts with everything happening. While he's been very good to me for the past couple of weeks, taking care of all of my needs, spending every waking moment with me, he's also been hard at work with his brothers. I do catch wind of what they're talking about. There's some sort of rumor that Volkov has lost his mind, and his next attack on us could be unprecedented. There's even talk about Mikhail assassinating him, or having him assassinated.
I respect my husband's wishes and stay out of their online communications. Even though I could look into them if I wanted to.
Things have changed, though. The staff is no longer here, save one person his mother insisted on bringing from her own home, a woman who has stayed with them since their infancy. Mikhail says Yelena is like a second mother to them.
I like having Polina here, and his mother, of course. His brothers…that depends on which ones. Some are a little…friendlier than others.
But other things have changed, too.
For one, Mikhail has barely touched me. I shouldn’t say that. He massages my feet and my back, but we haven’t had sex in over a week, which is unheard of for us. The last time we had sex, I bled a little bit. According to my doctor, that's common for women in the first trimester. Their bodies are swollen in places they didn't even expect, and an ultrasound and some testing later showed that the baby is totally fine. But Mikhail hasn't really wanted to do anything since.
He's definitely not put me over his lap. He told me that he wouldn't hesitate to punish me, but now, I am not so sure.
I love being dominated by my husband. Whoever thought I would miss it?
I miss our intimacy.
“This is lovely," I say now, as the scent of lavender fills the air. He pours some lotion in the palm of his hand, rubs it between his palms to warm it, then applies it to the heels of my feet. "Mikhail, you need to stop treating me as if I'm going to shatter if you're too rough with me."
A beat passes before he responds. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t lie about it." I intentionally try to be a little rude, to ruffle him a little bit. He looks up at me from beneath lowered brows, stern. My heart does a little flip in my chest.