Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
This was the most secure location he had, even more so than the cabin. He would have brought Anastasia here first, but he wanted her to enjoy the outside world. The cabin was not known, and he had no idea who had leaked the location, but he was going to find out.
He turned off his cell phone, then smashed it open to make sure there was no tracker inside.
“What the hell? What are you doing?”
“Someone knew how to trace me to the cabin.” His cell phone was clean. “I’m not taking any chances.” Next, he checked over his bag and every other item in his possession. Nothing.
Anastasia just stood there.
“So, you believe this order has come from Gnesin?” Anastasia asked.
“There is no one higher that could do this,” he said.
“You’ve made a lot of enemies?”
“Most of my enemies are dead, and those that aren’t would not be stupid enough to go through with it.” He opened the box on the wall and typed in the necessary security codes that would keep them safe.
“What’s going to happen now?”
“I need to figure out what Gnesin’s end goal is,” Dmitriy said.
“How are you going to do that?” Anastasia asked.
“Start from the beginning. Your parents’ house was not burnt. It is still standing, which now that you point it out, seems odd to me.”
He made his way across the hallway and pointed out each room to her. “Kitchen, dining room, bedrooms.”
“Is that it?”
“I also have a weapons room.” This is why he didn’t want to bring her to this house, as there was nothing for her to do.
“A weapons room?” Anastasia asked.
She rubbed at her temples, and he knew she was struggling with what had just happened.
“There’s food in the fridge. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Dmitriy said. He had to figure out what shit was going down.
“Are you insane?” Anastasia asked, and for the first time since their true acquaintance six months ago, she reached out and touched him.
That touch alone was like a spark. Magical, instant, and it went straight to his dick.
He looked at her, and Anastasia was staring at where she had grabbed his arm, and it was like for a second she didn’t know what she was doing. He waited. Watched. Wondering what move she would make next.
She licked her lips, then took a deep breath. “You’re not leaving me here.”
“I am not taking you with me.”
“Seriously? I could live on my own, and I can scratch and fight like a mean girl, but I am no match for men or women that are coming to kill you. I have never fired a gun. I wanted my dad to train me, but he refused. He said a woman’s place was not behind a gun. Even my brothers wouldn’t disobey him. You didn’t kill me and now you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not. I am coming with you.”
He wanted to argue with her, but there was this look in her eye.
“And let’s face it, if you’re going to my parents’ house, it is not like you’re going to know what you’re looking for. You’re going to need me to show you around the house.”
Dmitriy gritted his teeth. He worked alone. However, she made some valid points, and if they were able to find the cabin, he had a feeling those that hunted him would be able to find this safe house.
“Fine, follow me, but shut the fuck up,” he said.
He needed to think, and whenever Anastasia talked, he struggled to think. He liked listening to her talk. It calmed him.
He had to protect her. And to do that, he had to keep his head in the game.
****
Anastasia couldn’t believe she had demanded to come with Dmitriy, and that he had said yes. That was insane. Completely, one hundred percent crazy.
And yet, she was in the car, and they were on the street where she had grown up. She had been quiet during the entire drive here. Dmitriy had demanded that she not talk, so silence was the only answer.
Silence, and being left alone with her thoughts of coming back home to a house she had not seen in four years. The last time she had been here, her mother had cried, her brothers wouldn’t look at her, and her father kicked her out.
She had gone, and been happier for it. Even when her father visited her at work, he never bridged that gap. He was always cold. Never one to give anything away.
Seeing her old home, she felt pain. It was a shock to the system, and she wasn’t prepared for it. This was home, and she’d been told to never come back. There had been no doubt in her mind about the decision she had made. Being forced to marry a man who was evil, she just couldn’t do it. It had been the final straw.