Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Sergei, however, should’ve been game because his position allows for greater impact if he suddenly dies.
Rai’s words from the other day are what’s stopping me from finishing him.
If he does die, she’ll be thrown out of V Corp and everything she worked for. The brotherhood is a harsh world for a woman, especially a very opinionated and outspoken woman like Rai.
So, I choose not to kill her fantasies yet, even though she’ll eventually leave them behind once I whisk her out of here.
“I still need Sergei. He prefers me now, and I’ll use that to my advantage,” I say. “Choose one of the others.”
“And then?”
“And then stop asking questions and make it happen. After all, I’m paying you in fucking favors, and you know how much I hate them.”
“Fine, fine. I was just wondering if you had a plan for that blondie wife of yours.”
You don’t fucking talk about her that way. In fact, don’t bloody mention her at all.
That’s what I want to say, but if I show my weakness to Flame that way, he won’t hesitate to use it against me in the most brutal way possible. I might have him as an ally right now, but there will be a day when he will return to being my enemy.
“Rai is nothing,” I say in a casual tone. “I’ll just leave her behind.”
“Which is the smartest thing to do, because if she knows what you’re doing, she’ll murder you.”
She would.
But I’m still taking her with me. I don’t care if she kills me as long as she’s by my side.
“We’re close to the finish line, so get your head in the game, Flame.”
“Always is, punk.”
“By the end, I want both the Irish and the Russians destroyed.”
This is my vengeance.
31
Rai
I stand frozen in place, not sure what I just heard or if I heard it correctly.
Maybe my mind is playing a trick on me. Maybe none of this is real and I’m dreaming.
I’ll wake up soon, right?
I close my eyes so hard they sting then I open them again. Unlike what I foolishly hoped for, I don’t wake up.
Instead, my mind is assaulted by the words I heard as I stood by the door.
By the end, I want both the Irish and the Russians destroyed.
Kyle said that, among other things I’m unable to wrap my mind around.
He usually notices my presence even before I step into the room. Not this time, though. He hasn’t shown any sign that implies he knows I’m here. It could be that his medication has dulled his senses, or that I’m too silent.
Or maybe he’s too focused on his destruction plan to notice I’m here.
The fact remains, he said those words.
This is not my imagination.
This is not a nightmare.
This is reality.
The man standing on the balcony, the one I took as a husband and whose ring I’m wearing, has been plotting my family’s demise.
For a second, I’m unable to breathe or think. Should I barge in there, confront him, and possibly get myself killed? Or should I step away and pretend I heard nothing?
Pretend I didn’t come back because I got the DNA tests from Katia and they said in big fat letters that he’s not Igor’s son.
Pretend I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for his games all over again after seven years of swearing to never be a fool.
I was doing just fine, getting used to him being my husband. I was ready to forgive him and put everything behind us.
But how long would I have lived in that pipe dream before the bubble burst? Before I saw Kyle for what he truly is?
A mastermind of destruction.
A man who will ruin my family.
Unlike what I thought, Kyle didn’t marry me to help make Igor the boss—he did it to destroy the entire brotherhood.
The bitter taste of betrayal explodes in my mouth, and I bite my lower lip until I taste metal.
While he’s still speaking on the phone, I step back and try to be as quiet as possible.
He told me once that I shouldn’t trust him, that when I trusted him, I would be dead. Did I listen to that? Did my foolish heart listen to that? It didn’t. Instead, I fell deeper into his web of secrets and lies. He dragged me with him into a darkness so black, it’s impossible to see the light anymore.
I don’t close the door because the click might alert him to my presence.
If he knows I heard everything, he’ll change his plan, and I won’t be able to thwart it.
As I stand in front of the room I’d started to call ‘ours’, tears sting my eyes. I wipe them away with angry hands.
It’s all over now.
He thought that he could hurt my family and me, but it would’ve been better if he’d just disappeared. It would have been so much better if I hadn’t seen his face.