Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Wilfred Iwona?” I choke on my words instead of stuttering them. “You’re go-going to Wilfred Iwona’s invitation-only boutique?”
“Uh-huh,” Veronika answers, clearly impressed I know who she is referencing. “And you could be there right with me if you say yes.”
I nod before considering the consequences of my actions. Then I shift it to a headshake.
“I can’t. I have to work.”
The unnamed brunette’s interests are as piqued as Veronika’s impeccably manicured brow. “Making more custom pieces?”
“Ah. No. I—”
“Will be there with bells on.”
Veronika claps, missing the scald I hit Rafael with from acting as if he is my boss.
“I can’t go with her. I can’t mi-miss more days of work,” I whisper to Rafael when he guides me away from Veronika and her equally attractive friend.
“Then I guess it is lucky doing anything I ask is now a part of your job description.”
Huh?
He waves at two blondes eyeballing him from the other side of the den before lowering his eyes to me. They’re full of mischievousness but, somehow, still friendly. “Ark hired you to service his apartment permanently until he returns to Moscow later in the year.”
Excitement scuttles through my veins.
They’re overrun by disappointment only seconds later.
It isn’t solely the knowledge Ark has no intention of making Myasnikov his home that has me floundering. I am wondering if his company has a strict nonfraternization policy like the one that the maintenance and cleaning department in the Chrysler building undertakes.
Our kiss was so blistering that my lovesick heart is hopeful of a second chance to seduce him.
Shock that a nonfraternization policy shouldn’t be seen as a negative when contemplating a job offer scarcely registers when Rafael ensures there’s no possibility I can turn down the opportunity. “The pay is double your current rate, and the four days on, three days off roster is during school hours.”
It sounds too good to be true, which can only mean one thing—it is.
“I—” I choke on my reply for the second time when the man offering me an opportunity I never anticipated enters the den from the opposite side.
Ark smiles at me like I’m welcome in his space, and it instantly facilitates my worries that most nursery rhymes are based on heinous acts.
11
ARKADIY
“If you want anyone to believe you hired her because of her cleaning skills, you need to alter your expression.” Rafael butts shoulders with me before he joins my stalk. To an outsider, it appears as if he picked the side closest to the bar. I know that isn’t true. He always stands to my right to ensure I hear every snarky comment he mutters. “You look hungry.”
I am.
I’m fucking starved.
It just isn’t for food.
Rafael winks at a brunette prancing past us like her hair coloring won’t see her left in the cold before he says, “This isn’t what I meant when I said you needed her at your side. I meant—”
“I know what you meant, Raf,” I interrupt. “But this is better for all involved. Safer.” My next sentence leaves my mouth before I can stop it. “It will give me time to make sure the headrush I face every time she looks at me won’t cause unforgivable mistakes.”
He shakes his head, his expression a mix of disappointment and confusion. “You’re not him, Ark. You’d never….” He can’t finish his sentence, and I am glad. I’m not sure how I’d respond with eyes identical to the ones from my nightmares on me.
Needing to change topics before my somewhat playful mood nosedives, I ask, “Why is she here so late? She usually finishes no later than five.”
I want to add, And where’s Tillie? But I know Mara wouldn’t have left her in incapable hands. Unlike my mother, she cares about her child. The way she weaponed up against me on Monday proves this without a doubt. The reminder has me pushing aside my worries faster than they can surface.
Rafael shrugs. “She didn’t say.” He leans in close. “Want me to kick her out? I’d hate to disrupt your routine. You’d usually be half a block from her apartment by n—”
I rib him with my elbow, stopping his rile midsentence. He chuckles, loving seeing a side of me he’s not witnessed in an extremely long time.
I’m not opposed to a changeup. Occasionally thinking with your heart can’t be a bad thing. I just wish it wasn’t occurring during one of the most pivotal times of my career.
If my skeletons are exposed, my campaign for office is over.
I won’t be able to come back from that.
Haunted memories see me removing my eyes from Mara for the first time in almost thirty minutes. “Make sure she gets home safely.” My snapped tone announces the words I don’t need to speak to a man as protective as Rafael, but I articulate them anyway. “And don’t let it be on a fucking bus.”