Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
In fact, he’s been being unapologetically himself in a very direct manner. He was strict and unapproachable in the army, probably due to martial law, but now, he’s shed his outer skin and is letting his inner self loose.
Not that I expected him to change, but I did think maybe being around members of his family would compel him to behave differently.
Little did I know that they would bring out his apathetic side.
I sit in the passenger seat as Yuri drives the car to the location where Kirill said his mother is. I asked Yuri if the boss put a tracker on her, and he just lifted his shoulder.
He didn’t have to spell it out. Everything is possible in this family.
I stare at Kirill through the rearview mirror. He sits with effortless charisma like a king. It’s scary how natural he is at looking calm and authoritative even when he’s doing a mundane task such as scrolling through a tablet.
His long, veiny fingers rest on the device with easy control. I can’t stop looking at his masculine hands. The fact that they could also be used for destruction doesn’t lessen the strange effect they have on me.
“Faster, Yuri,” he says without lifting his head, and a small smirk tilts his lips. “We don’t want to be late for saving my dear mother.”
This man is a psychopath.
I’m still shaking from the scene I witnessed near the highway. It looked like something right out of a movie but also so realistic, it left me in a temporary state of shock.
Not only did a minivan tailgate her car, but then, all of a sudden, they ran her off the road.
I was sure Yulia had died in the accident, but soon after, she was shoved out of the vehicle by her bodyguards, who were knocked out and thrown to the side of the road by men in black ski masks.
Everything happened at lightning speed and ended before I could think of a solution. I considered following them, but I knew I would be as good as dead if I did. So I called Viktor, who said, “I’ll take care of it,” and then hung up.
Maksim was unreachable, and when I got back to the house, Kirill was lounging like a bored king on his throne. He also acted as if the news of his mother’s kidnapping has no importance whatsoever.
We arrive at a warehouse that’s far from the city. Only a few abandoned industrial buildings are in sight, their old yellow-gray colors clashing with the afternoon sky in a beautifully gruesome image.
I jump out of the car, but Kirill doesn’t move, seemingly engrossed in whatever business he’s been doing on the tablet.
I bang on the window, and he stares at me as if I’m a nuisance. I catch a glimpse at what he’s watching, and my face heats.
It’s…porn.
Holy shit.
Is that what he was zeroing in on during the entire ride?
He doesn’t act flustered or abnormal as he turns off the iPad, throws it on the seat, and takes his time getting out of the car.
With the same nonchalant energy, he walks to the door of the warehouse. I catch up to him and blurt, “Shouldn’t we have some sort of a plan first? They probably have a sniper somewhere. We really should’ve brought more men with us. And is Yuri really supposed to stay in the car—”
My words come to a halt when he does something that stuns me into silence.
Kirill leans down and bites my ear. It’s not a lick or a nibble. It’s a flat-out bite that sends both a chill and zings of pain down my spine. Then, just like that, he pulls back.
I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks as I grab my assaulted ear. “What…what was that for?”
“Your silence.” He speaks casually, but there’s an unusual edge beneath his words.
The fact remains, what he did has the desired effect, and I stop talking. I do grab my gun and survey our surroundings, though. My senses are on high alert as if we’re back on that mission that ended it all.
I also can’t help overthinking about the turn of events in the current situation. Did they call him for a ransom? Is that why he’s so calm?
Kirill casually pushes the warehouse’s door open without even pulling out his gun.
I freeze in the entrance when I spot Yulia strapped to a chair. Her mouth is sealed shut with duct tape. Her usually elegant hair looks disheveled, and dried blood lines her temple.
But she’s not what makes me stop and stare. It’s the men beside her. Viktor, Maksim, and a few of my other colleagues.
What are they doing here?
Did Kirill send them prior to our arrival?
No.
I take in my surroundings, and something definitely doesn’t feel right around here.
There are no bodies, no signs of struggle, and definitely no remnants of the ‘saving Yulia’ mission.