Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
I lied when I said Mikhail wouldn’t be able to protect Nikita. He gives back as good as he gets, and within minutes, there are as many bruises shadowing Andrik’s face as Mikhail’s.
“Stop!” I scream when Andrik headbutts Mikhail hard enough to split the bridge of Mikhail’s nose.
Blood gushes down Mikhail’s face as I endeavor to achieve what the security guards aren’t game to attempt.
I place myself between two maniacs.
“That’s enough! Stop. You’re acting like fucking lunatics.”
Andrik shunts me to the side before he gets back up in his brother’s face. “I told you I’d kill you if you touched her.” He spits at Mikhail’s feet. It is as bloody as his teeth. “I don’t make threats for show.”
His swing rockets Mikhail’s head to the side with a sickening crunch. Before he can get in another jab, I shout, “I kissed him. Me. So if you want to be angry at anyone, take it out on me.”
Help comes from an unlikely source. “She is telling the truth, Andrik.” Ellis steps through the crowd, parting the spectators. “Mikhail had no say.” With Andrik’s fists still ready to punish, he steps between them like I did earlier but more to one side. “He also isn’t to blame for your anger. If you want to take that out on anyone, you need to look closer to home.”
His reply firms Andrik’s fists instead of loosening them, so he shifts his focus to the less hostile one of the duo.
I can’t hear what he says to Mikhail. It must be shocking because his pupils dilate to the size of saucers before his eyes rocket to me.
My ego gets bitch-slapped when he looks seconds from vomiting before his hand shoots up to his mouth to scrub away my kiss. He scrubs and scrubs and scrubs until his mouth is as red as the blood oozing from the top of his nose. It isn’t enough. After pushing through the crowd, he shoves open the bar’s washroom door with enough force to warp the hinges.
“I’ll deal with him,” Ellis announces, removing Andrik’s suddenly remorseful eyes from the swinging restroom door. “You fix this.” He glares at me during “this.” “Then come home. We have plans to finalize.”
He is so confident that Andrik will follow his orders that he leaves after the quickest glance my way. My arm is snatched up in a brutal hold only seconds later.
54
ZOYA
The strong scent of alcohol pumping from Andrik’s pores indicates that something is amiss with him, so I won’t mention the fact he walks up past numerous solid surfaces more than capable of issuing the punishment he believes I deserve.
The meeting places dotted throughout the foyer of the hotel are empty because only the insane stalk the halls at this hour.
That should have been the first indication that I was about to make a terrible mistake.
Nothing good happens at 2 a.m.
I attempt to yank out of Andrik’s hold when he jabs the call button on the elevator panel. I say attempt as his grip is too deadly to dislodge. His fingernails dig into my arm firm enough to mark, and they shred my last nerve.
“I kissed him to force you to react. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known you were going to take it this far. My god, Andrik, you hurt your brother. Badly.”
“No,” he denies, his grip firming more. “You hurt him. Not me. Don’t put your shit on me.”
After I’m forcefully walked into the elevator, I drink in his confused expression in the mirrored wall. He’s angry, downright furious, though that is barely seen through the bewilderment swamping him. There’s so much pain in his eyes, so much hurt.
Their pain convinces me that this is no longer about jealousy. It is about something far more sinister than that. I doubt even an illicit affair will scratch the surface of the betrayal he is currently experiencing, and I have an inkling I am the catalyst of his pain.
“I had no intention of taking your father’s money. I gave him that date and time because I knew he wouldn’t be able to uphold his side of our agreement if I was three thousand miles away. I had no clue he would show up early.”
“Because you underestimated him.”
He doesn’t see my nod. He doesn’t need to. He knows the truth because this isn’t his first rodeo with his father.
“We all underestimated him.” He shakes his head as if disappointed with himself. “But I got burned the most because I was closest to the flame.” When his glassy eyes drop to my arm, he steps back as if it is ravished with as many bruises as his face and knuckles. “I…” A brutal swallow bobs his Adam’s apple and shifts his focus in under a second. “You should have kept his money.”
“No. I should have never bartered for it to begin with,” I immediately reply, my tone announcing his suggestion isn’t up for negotiation.