Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
If that happened, I did not think I could bear it. The thought of it alone was enough to make my stomach tighten in despair. With Papa so far away, I already felt so alone. If Anton returned to coolness or cruelty, I might crumble.
I would remain cautious, I decided. I had no choice. I could not allow myself to become so vulnerable. I was already at his mercy. I could not give him my heart and my very soul.
My eyes were shut against the racing thoughts in my mind. But suddenly they opened. I smelled something delicious, distracting me from my thoughts.
I smelled coffee.
My eyes opened and I saw the sun coming in around the curtains. I wanted to open them. I wanted to start the day.
I wanted to see him.
Whichever version of him I might get…
Monster. Captor. Criminal. Gentle giant. You never could tell. But somehow, I could not help but want to know every single part of him.
I threw the covers back and almost ran to the windows. We were leaving New York soon. I wanted to soak up every moment of it.
I looked out into the sunshine. It was early, but I was well rested. I must have fallen asleep during dinner, I realized with embarrassment.
But how had I gotten back into my room? Into my bed? There was only one way. Well, two. And I had never walked in my sleep before.
Anton must have carried me. I looked down at my body. I was fully dressed. It wasn’t embarrassing. But it was shockingly intimate. He was my boss, not my lover or my father.
He was not even my friend. Or was he?
I shivered and ran to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. I combed my hair and applied lip gloss. I decided to shower after breakfast, if it was provided in the suite. I wasn’t sure what to wear for the day, so I decided to brave the kitchen area of the suite in my loungewear. I was that desperate for coffee.
I was also famished… had I eaten dinner? I remembered taking a few bites and starting a movie… but then nothing. My cheeks were burning with the realization that I had definitely dozed off in front of my boss.
In front of him.
Anton was not a typical boss. The situation was highly unusual. What I felt for him wasn’t even a normal crush. Crushes like the schoolgirl crushes some of my classmates had had on this teacher or that teacher, or a famous actor or sports star.
I had been too shy to even really think that way. I loved music and my father. That was about it. I liked books and being out in nature. I just had not paid much attention to boys.
Not until now.
I was crushing pretty hard on my boss. More than that even. I was afraid I might be falling in love with him.
But I could not. I did not dare. I had never been in love before. And this was not the time to start. Anton was not the right man for an inexperienced girl like me. He wasn’t even expert level. He was in the stratosphere when it came to money and power.
I was in way way way over my head.
Even if he had not been the head of the Aslanov Crime Syndicate, I would have been in over my head. As it were…
“Good morning, Mishka. Would you like some coffee?”
I blinked. I was barely out of my bedroom and he was there, leaning against a wall and giving me a sweet and solicitous look. He made me a cup just the way I liked it. I accepted it, marveling at the change in his attitude. I wasn’t sure if it was being away from the family estate, or something else.
If it was me.
“Hungry? I ordered breakfast.”
“You did?”
“Or we could go out,” he gave me a cute little smile. “Or we could do both.”
“Two breakfasts?”
“Sure, why not?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The man did seem to love feeding me. I let him lead me towards the kitchen, where there was a full spread laid out on the gorgeous marble on the island.
“We could eat here, or on the terrace.”
“This is fine. It’s… nice,” I said shyly. And it was. It might be a palatial super luxurious five-star hotel suite, but it was still… homey. Especially compared to the compound we usually lived in.
Of course, he had grown up like that. So that might feel more homey to him. This was probably small. Claustrophobic.
“Please help yourself,” he said, watching me carefully. He was already dressed in custom fit wool trousers, with a white shirt that was open at the neck. He was freshly showered, and his hair was doing that adorable thing it did when it was wet and curled over his forehead.