Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Raya lifts her hand, and expecting her to hit me, I jump back. My heart thunders in my ears, my breaths desperate gasps.
Suddenly, Georgi comes back, hard lines cut into his face as he hands my precious child to his sister, who once again carries her away from me.
Knowing this is how things are going to be, and that I’ll at least get to see Simi for two hours a day, my breathing slows dramatically.
I lower my head, training my eyes on the ground.
At least I had the past twenty-four hours with her.
I feel hands on the sides of my head, and waiting for the pain, I stand like a robot. Then I’m yanked against a solid body, my face pressing into warm silk.
Slowly, the darkness around me shifts until I hear Georgi’s deep voice above my head. “Shh…You’re safe.”
When the worst of the shock fades and I forcefully make peace with the fact that I am once again separated from my child, my instinct to obey every rule and do as I’m told takes over.
Don’t risk the short two hours you’ll get with Simi.
Georgi’s body folds around me. When his lips brush against my forehead, it feels deceivingly like he’s sheltering me.
I know what he wants.
No use in fighting the inevitable.
I tilt my head back, but the moment my lips brush against his, he yanks completely away from me as if I burned him like fire.
Georgi puts a safe distance between us, a very disturbed expression darkening his face. “No, Nina.” He shakes his head hard, then anger carves lines into his features. “Why did you check out of reality?” He lifts his hand to rub the muscles behind his neck. “Did you have flashbacks to what happened in the basement?”
I shake my head.
His expression turns from anger to worry, which confuses me. “Then what is it?”
“I will do whatever you want from me so I don’t risk the two hours I get to spend with Simi every afternoon.” My tone is drained of all emotion, just like my soul.
Georgi closes the distance between us again, grabs hold of my hand and hauls me toward an elevator.
It’s only then that I notice all the other men. Six of them, armed to the teeth and looking very scary.
When the doors open, I’m pulled into the opulent space that is all mirrors with gold and black frames.
One of the guards gets in with us and scans a card that makes the doors shut and the elevator move.
Georgi begins to rub his thumb over my skin on the inside of my wrist, as he did on the plane when I felt sick.
The silence thickens around us, and when the elevator slides to a smooth stop and the doors open, I’m hauled into a space so vast and luxurious it feels unreal.
Dark marble gleams beneath my feet, leading to a sunken living room decorated with soft cream leather couches and a fire burning from a wall of black stone.
For a split second, my stunned gaze touches on floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights of the city glittering below.
Gold catches in the glow of chandeliers suspended overhead, warm against dark wood, smoked glass, and polished steel.
Every carefully curated detail screams of money Boris could only dream of attaining.
But I barely have time to take it all in because there are so many people. Conversations die the moment Georgi drags me toward them, and every pair of eyes locks on us.
Dear God!
The men fill me with unspeakable fear, which numbs my body. They all look as powerful as Georgi.
Some rise like predators from where they’re sitting on the couches, while others stand near a bar.
The women are all beautiful and polished, draped in elegance, while I look disheveled and have terror clinging to me like a second skin.
My gaze darts wildly through the room, panic surging so fast my vision blurs.
Then I see Simi, still in Raya’s arms as she steps out from among the people who I can only assume are Georgi’s friends and family.
The sound that tears from me is half sob, half gasp.
When I tug on Georgi’s hold, he doesn’t let go of my hand, but thankfully, he takes me straight to her.
A charged silence hangs heavy in the room, but I don’t care.
“Mama!” Simi smiles happily. “This is Georgi’s castle.”
He lifts her from Raya and places her back in my arms, and I clutch my baby so tight against my chest she squirms.
I bury my face in her hair, shaking as relief and terror collide inside me in a violent storm.
Georgi wraps his arm around my shoulders, and I hear him say, “Give me a minute, guys.”
Pulling me right against his side, he guides me down a hallway. I can barely see through the tears gathering in my eyes and only half take in that we are entering a study.