Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
But now I’m comfortable here. I like Maud and most of the other staff. Arsen’s guards are standoffish, but generally kind and respectful. I even like my husband, God help me.
What I don’t like is knowing he’s out there in danger. This war with his family is going to break him. Maybe it won’t kill him, but he’ll have to do something he doesn’t want to do, and I’m afraid of the scars it’ll leave. Invisible scars, the sort that run deeper than skin.
I want to protect him from that if I can. But I know it’s not possible.
When Maud comes to check on me a little later, I ask her to do me a favor. “Can you make an appointment with a tattoo studio or a body piercing place near here?”
“Can’t say I’m familiar with anyone like that.”
“I’m sure you can figure it out. Find someone that does house calls since I doubt Arsen will let me go anywhere.”
“Getting some ink done?”
“My eyebrow pierced, actually. I owe him.”
She laughs but says she’ll see what she can do. I figure if anyone can find a good body piercing artist, it’ll be ultra-competent Maud, even if she doesn’t know much about the industry.
I wander the house after that thinking about all the trouble Arsen might be getting into. It bothers me more than I like to admit, and I find myself craving a distraction. There are only so many times I can sit in the sauna and touch myself though, and eventually I end up standing in front of the locked door.
My curiosity is going to kill me one of these days.
He specifically said not to go in there. I step forward, staring at it. The floorboards flex, and I swear something thumps in the wall. I hear breathing, but I’m all alone. I reach out for the knob, hand shaking. Something shuffles nearby, and when I whirl around, I’m all alone. Nobody’s watching. My lockpick skills are good enough that I could get in there easily if I wanted.
It’s so tempting it hurts. It’s almost cruel, this stupid locked door.
But I remember what he said the last time.
I don’t want to open it.
Whatever’s on the other side, Arsen thinks I’m better off not knowing.
This is a man that happily told me about all the terrible ways he was abused when he was younger.
What’s so bad he can’t let me find it?
“Don’t do it, Lena,” I mutter to myself. Turning away is like ripping off a piece of my own body. “Be strong, Lena. Things are going good. Don’t ruin it for yourself.”
Instead of breaking in, I find Maud and beg her to give me a job. “Body piercing and hard work?” She studies me, lips pressed together. “You really are an odd one.”
“I’m desperate. I’m so bored! There’s got to be something you need help with.”
“Well, the library hasn’t been catalogued in a while and I haven’t dusted in there for a couple weeks.”
“Perfect! Yes! I can Dewey Decimal the shit out of that place!”
“You just need to run a cloth—”
“I’m going to totally rearrange the shelves and set up a master cataloguing system. When I’m done, it’ll be organized so well a master librarian would break down in tears to see its majesty.”
“That seems like a little much.”
“Brew me some tea. I’m getting on it.”
“Whatever you say, dear.”
“Thanks, Maud!”
I storm into the library, feeling like a conquering hero. The locked door is like an itch in the back of my head, but having a job helps ease some of that obsession. So what if there’s a mystery? So what if I’m expressly forbidden from breaking in?
There are thumps in the walls and I feel like I’m being watched.
None of that matters.
I’m going to respect Arsen’s wishes and refrain from doing something stupid for once in my life. No more curiosity. No more exploration.
Just a girl, her library, and a big old dust mop.
This’ll be totally fine.
Chapter 24
Arsen
“Why the fuck are you smiling so much?” Tigran frowns at me. He’s slumped down in the passenger seat of my BMW. “And why do you keep looking at your phone?”
“I’m smiling because I’m thinking about killing Aunt Sona. I’m looking at my phone because I fucking want to.” I glare at my brother. “How about you concentrate on the job?”
He shrugs and looks away. “All this good cheer just doesn’t really seem like you, that’s all.”
Tigran’s not wrong. Before Lena came into my life, I was one grumpy fucking bastard. I still am, except now I have her to obsess about, and it’s making me all stupid.
I keep looking at my phone because I’m hoping I’ll find a message from her.
Which is pathetic. Mooning after a girl like that. Absolutely weak. And yet I can’t help myself.
Lena’s everything to me. Our day together only emphasized that and made it that much clearer. She’s my wife, the mother of my child, and the only woman in the world that can make the scattered, screaming madness of my brain quiet down for an entire day.