Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I should go,” I said, giving him a tight smile.
“No,” he said firmly. “She will go.”
His ex’s gaze was back on me, disdain in her tone as she gave Kon an earful in Russian. Despite the situation, I felt for her. Her face was gaunt and her dirty blond hair was actually dirty. The beat-up coat she wore looked more like roadkill than a fur.
Kon responded to her in Russian, the tone of his voice rising with every word. I wasn’t mad at him—clearly he hadn’t planned this, but I also didn’t want to stay and continue being insulted in a foreign language.
Svetlana stood and walked over to us. I backed up a couple of steps because I’d already been punched in the face once today, and that was enough.
Kon took out his wallet and passed Svetlana several hundred-dollar bills. My stomach rolled as he held the money out and she protested, gesturing around the apartment. She took off her coat and tossed it on a chair.
This didn’t feel like a conversation between two people who were over. He clearly wanted her to leave, and was willing to pay for it, but what if I hadn’t been here with him?
“No,” he said firmly, offering her the cash again.
She scowled at me, and Kon said something to her in Russian. I didn’t want to be here. Taking my phone from my bag, I texted Sawyer.
Lucy: Can you please come pick me up at Kon’s ASAP?
Sawyer: Yep, on my way. What’s up?
Lucy: His ex is here.
Sawyer: Yikes, she’s a disaster. I’ll pick you up out front.
Kon and Svetlana were still engaged in an animated conversation when I opened the door to leave.
“Lucy, no,” he said, giving me an imploring look. “This is not what it looks like. She’s in trouble with a pimp.”
“I’m going back to Sawyer’s,” I said. “You guys need to work this out without me here.”
He shook his head, putting his hands on his hips. “Please don’t go. I’m trying to get her to take this money and go.”
“She wants to stay here, doesn’t she?” I asked him, knowing the answer.
“It does not matter that she wants to. She is not staying here. I have not been with her since we broke up. I swear it. She just has nowhere else to turn for help.”
Svetlana stuck out a hip, arms crossed as she addressed him in their native language again. I grabbed my bag, opened the door, and walked out of the apartment. I’d only made it a few steps when Kon caught up to me.
“I didn’t ask her to come here,” he said pleadingly. “I have nothing to do with her anymore. Please don’t go, Lucy. You are the only one I want here.”
I smiled sadly. “Look, I’m not mad at you. This is just awkward as hell. Sawyer’s on his way to pick me up.”
His gaze darkened. “She is…I do not know the word in English. She would like for you to leave because she does not want me to be happy. I will never be with her again. I promise. But I cannot…” He exhaled hard. “She saved my life back in Russia, Lucy. I want to tell you about it but I need you to stay so I can.”
Svetlana’s voice sounded from the doorway of his apartment and we both turned. She was leaning against the doorframe, now wearing one of Kon’s T-shirts and looking right at home.
I laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I’m out of here. And I am a little bit mad at you now.”
“Fucking hell,” he muttered. “I am sorry, Lucy. Let me wait for Sawyer with you. I don’t want you out there alone.”
I waved a hand, already heading toward the elevator. “By the time you got back in here, she’d be naked in your bed. I’m out.”
“Don’t go.”
He continued following me, so I took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I liked Kon, but drama was a deal breaker for me. After what happened this morning, I needed peace. Hot sex would have been a great bonus, but peace was paramount.
Icy wind whipped my hair into my face as I stood in front of his building. Part of me knew how Kon must be feeling right now. Svetlana looked like she wasn’t getting enough to eat. I wasn’t savage enough to send someone onto the streets cold and hungry. Cruel as it was, she wasn’t exactly a top-tier prostitute, and it sickened me to think of any woman performing sex acts for a few bucks because it was the only way she could eat.
“Lucy, please.”
Kon put his coat around my shoulders. It smelled faintly of leather and his cologne. The sweetness of the gesture tugged on my heartstrings.
“Take care of your shit,” I said gently. “We’ll talk later.”
“If you stay, she will go.”