Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
The guilt was a slow, creeping thing, curling around my ribs, sinking its teeth into my chest. It would devour me if I let it.
But right now, guilt didn’t matter.
Survival did.
Kostya had given me two minutes. And I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t hesitate to come storming in after me, tearing down the door, dragging me back to that tiny room so he could hold me against him again, pin me down with his warmth while I drowned in my own shame.
I took a breath. One more second.
Then I straightened, turned, and reached for the door.
He said he didn’t hurt Veronika.
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him.
But could I even trust my own thoughts when it came to him?
We had just done things I never should have allowed to happen. Things I should have been disgusted by, things that should have filled me with shame. But instead, all I could think about was the way his body had felt over mine, the way he had made me feel—raw, consumed, alive.
I could blame it on hormones. On fear. On sheer, unrelenting stupidity.
But none of that mattered right now.
I had to get away from him.
There was no way to be certain that he wasn’t responsible for Veronika’s death. And even if he hadn’t killed her, what was stopping him from killing me?
Nothing.
He wanted that money. That was the only thing keeping me alive. But once he had it, what then? There’d be no reason to keep me around.
I had to think about survival.
Maybe one day, years from now when I was far away from this nightmare, I would let myself breathe again. Maybe then, I would find a man who made me feel even a fraction of what Kostya did in that tiny, confining room.
But I doubted it.
And if not? So be it.
A woman who fucked her sister’s husband didn’t deserve happiness.
But that didn’t mean I deserved to die, either.
The train screeched to a sudden, violent halt, throwing me forward in the hall.
A piercing clang of a railroad crossing bell echoed through the air, the sound reverberating through the metal of the train car.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I peered through the small window out into the night. It was pitch black, nothing but vast, open fields stretching in either direction. In the distance, I could just make out the silhouette of a farmhouse, dimly lit and isolated.
We were in the middle of nowhere.
My bag was back in the room with Kostya, but I had a few hundred bucks stashed in my shoe. I could feel the lump from the bills beneath the insole, pressing against the arch of my foot, grounding me. That had to be enough to get me to New York.
It wouldn’t cover a bus, but maybe I could hitchhike.
Hitchhiking was dangerous.
More dangerous than staying with the man who might have killed my sister?
My mind raced.
Maybe I could find Solovyov’s men. Strike a deal. Or maybe I could take the money and disappear, start a new life, leave all of this behind.
That was a problem for future Marina.
Right now, I needed to know if escape was even possible.
I headed to the back of the train car, my pulse hammering as I stared at the narrow gap between the carriages. It would be easy enough to jump from.
One shot.
That was all I had.
Run. Now. Before he wakes up. Before he realizes what you’re doing.
I stood between the carriages and slammed my hand against the button. The metal doors hissed open. Night air rushed in.
Without taking the time to think, I jumped.
Tucking my knees into my chest, my body rolled into a tight ball.
I hit the cold ground hard. Pain exploded through my side, my hip slamming against the earth, the breath knocked from my lungs. I barely had time to react before I rolled straight into a patch of thick, wet mud.
Shock rippled through me.
I was alive.
I was free.
Holy shit. It worked.
CHAPTER 17
KOSTYA
Igot up and stretched, ready to go hunt down Marina and drag her back to this room before she got some crazy idea in her head.
She needed to be back in this bed with her pert ass pressed against me.
I enjoyed having her in my arms, knowing she was safe.
I had just fallen asleep when she tried to crawl over me.
She made her case, and although I didn't like having her out of my sight, she had a good point. Once I had her in my hands, she didn't alert anyone. She didn't cause a scene.
Marina may not have grown up in a bratva family, but she was close enough to know better.
There was nowhere she could go.
No way for her to run.
If she tried to hide, I would simply find her and then take my time punishing her again.
Then the train stopped.