Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Besides, she wasn’t really ill. She was just tired.
So tired that it felt like she had a dead weight around her shoulders.
Her lack of sleep was starting to make her feel ill. Her nights were plagued with bad dreams.
And during the day, she kept drawing that stupid image over and over again.
Detective Maran had tried to approach her a couple more times, but she kept running away from him.
Her back was really hurting again, to the point that Sacha had taken note and ordered her to take some time off.
Something she’d gratefully agreed to do.
However, that wasn’t her only reason for staying away from Solynshko. She was also avoiding being around Oleg. There was something manic about him lately. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was going on, but he’d changed.
And she felt even more unsafe around him.
Perhaps it was time to tell Aleksandr. Let him help her shoulder this burden.
She paused at the doorway as she heard Oleg speak. Fuck. She didn’t want to deal with him. She took a step back.
“Let me the fuck go!”
Oh God! That was Miller! Did Oleg have Miller trapped back there? She had to help her. But where was her guard?
“Do you have a fucking death wish?” Finn yelled. “MacGuire is going to murder you for touching his missus.”
Shit. They had Finn too.
“I think he be more interested in how his girlfriend have secret meeting with his enemy,” Oleg replied.
What? What was he talking about? What secret meeting?
“You set that up, and when I tell Rogan, he’ll have Anisimov kick your ass out of here,” Miller replied.
“You think anyone believe you? Some piece of ass? They take my word over yours. But maybe we teach you both a lesson.”
No. Nope.
Not happening. There was no way she would allow Oleg to hurt Miller or Finn.
She stepped through the door, taking in everything. Oleg had Miller by the arm while Anton and Pavel held Finn back. They both worked here as kitchen hands, yet she trusted neither of them.
“Let them go, Oleg,” she said firmly, keeping any fear out of her voice.
She was going to pay for this later, but she didn’t care.
She was done.
“Sofia, go!” Oleg yelled. “This nothing do with you.”
“This is my restaurant,” Sofia told him. “She’s my employee. Let her go. Now.”
Oleg scowled at Sofia.
But she wasn’t going to break. “I’ll make sure they don’t talk. Let her go, or I’ll tell Sacha about this.”
Surprisingly, Oleg let Miller go. Then he nodded at his friends, who pushed Finn away.
Sofia moved through the kitchen toward the employee entrance. She didn’t know why this was working; all she knew was that she had to get Miller and Finn out of there.
Now.
Had Oleg lost his fucking mind? Rogan MacGuire was going to kill him for touching Miller.
“Go. Now. Before he changes his mind,” Sofia urged once they were outside.
“Come with us,” Miller replied. “Rogan will keep you safe.”
“I’m safe here. Sacha would never let anyone hurt me.”
“He seems to be doing a great job protecting you from that asshole,” Miller said.
Pain throbbed low in her back. Christ. This was the last thing she needed. The stress of everything, as well as the lack of sleep, was making her back pain worse.
It was a vicious circle.
“There are things going on you don’t understand. Please don’t tell Aleksandr.”
Miller peeked up at Finn, who gave Sofia a strange look. But he seemed to realize that Sofia wasn’t going to give in and go with them.
“We need to go, Miller.”
She nodded. “I know. Sofia, I have to tell Rogan about this. I can’t keep him from talking to your cousin.”
Sofia sent a panicked gaze over her shoulder. “Can’t you leave Oleg’s name out of it? Please, Miller.”
Miller bit her lip as Sofia gave her a pleading look. If Rogan said something to her cousin, especially before she could . . . let’s just say that things wouldn’t go well for anyone involved.
“Fine. I’ll keep quiet about Oleg’s part. Be safe, Sofia.”
Safe. Right.
God. She wished she could just walk out with Miller right now. Find somewhere safe to go.
But she couldn’t risk Oleg releasing that video or her secret. Not at the moment. This had to be played right.
So she turned away and headed back into the kitchen. Anton and Pavel weren’t there. They’d probably headed out for a cigarette. So there was no one there to witness as Oleg slammed her against a wall, his hand around her throat.
The pain in her back was so intense that she was close to vomiting or passing out.
“What the fuck you think you doing?” Oleg snarled in her face.
He really had to start using some mouthwash.
“What did you think you were doing? Rogan is going to kill you for touching Miller!”
To her surprise, rather than looking worried, he just grinned.