Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“Coffee.”
“Cappuccino or Turkish? I can do either.”
“Turkish, then. I can get cappuccino anywhere. I like mine with milk and some spices.” He said it like a challenge. “I wouldn’t mind a scone with those berries.”
“Yes, of course. Mila, your tea is ready. I’ll bring that to you while his coffee is brewing.”
“Do you need any help, Mom?” Darby asked.
“I’m doing fine, honey,” Blythe said. “You keep the kids together. That’s the biggest help.”
Ambrielle tried to keep her face expressionless. They were stalling to wait for Master and the others to get there. Then Czar would come. Everyone was certain that Lana’s appearance would throw Mila just a little. Once Czar arrived, she would be even more shaken. But something in Blythe’s voice checking her daughter’s movement set Ambrielle’s warning system blaring. Blythe was up to something. She was deviating from the plan. That was never a good thing. Ambrielle didn’t know Blythe well enough to predict what she was up to.
She watched closely as Blythe fussed with Mila’s tea, making certain everything was just so. Mila was very particular about her tea ritual, and Blythe seemed to know the exact way to make the tea to Mila’s satisfaction. Once she had Mila happily drinking tea and eating scones, she brought Titus his coffee in a to-go mug to make it easier for him to drink where he was stationed. She also brought him two of the scones to try.
Ambrielle thought she was being far too good of a hostess as she sat back down and resumed the conversation. Thankfully, Czar and Master came in when Mila was nearly finished with her tea. Ambrielle had gotten to the point that she couldn’t stand her smug, proper ways.
The moment the two men entered, Titus had his gun on them and insisted on searching them for weapons. Neither man had brought a weapon into the house with them.
“You’re holding my wife and children hostage. I’m not going to take chances with their lives,” Czar said. He moved into the room, giving his children a quick look to make sure they were all right before seating himself beside Blythe. He took her hand.
Master sat beside Ambrielle, threading his fingers through hers, his arm resting on the gun hidden in the material of her sweater.
“What is it you want from me, Mila?” Czar asked. “I recognize you now. Why in the world would you be so angry at me that you would send your assassination squads after my wife and children? That makes no sense.”
“No sense? After what you did to me? Ruining my life?” Mila’s voice swung out of control, and she took several deep breaths to get it back. She coughed, her hands shaking. Her body trembled. “You took away my life. That’s what you did.”
“How? I don’t understand how I had anything to do with your life,” Czar objected. “I barely knew you. You lived with Galina’s crew, not mine.”
Mila’s scowl was that of an accuser—of a child. “Galina was a liar and she made deals with Sorbacov all the time. She made them with the guards, with the Kozlovs, with everyone. She did it by using us. She would lend us to them in exchange for food or clothes. Sorbacov wanted a spy in your camp. She was certain she’d come up with the perfect idea. You had passed over me once already . . .”
Czar held up his hand. “You chose Galina immediately. You had choices given to you when you first arrived at the school, and the moment you saw her, you wanted to be with her faction. It was larger and they had clothes and looked as if they had supplies.”
Mila shrugged, refusing to be sidetracked. Ambrielle could have told Czar Mila wasn’t a woman who would take responsibility for anything. She blamed everyone but herself for the choices in her life. Perhaps Czar already knew that.
“Say whatever you want, Viktor, to make yourself look good in front of Blythe and these children. You don’t deserve them. I’ve gotten to know them, and you don’t deserve them.” Her voice hissed with venom. Once again, she coughed, and her body slumped a little back against the chair. She tried to straighten, but it seemed too much of an effort.
“Please continue, Mila,” Blythe coaxed gently. “I’m very interested in what happened.”
“Galina came up with an idea to insert me into Viktor’s group. She said I couldn’t just ask to be taken in because he’d be suspicious. She claimed I would have to do something heroic, like save one of the girls from a monster. She arranged with Sorbacov to have a horrible toad of a human being, Mr. Gaston Guran, come to the school. He beat girls with a crop before he raped them. Galina told me all about him. She delighted in telling me. It wouldn’t be my first time with such a man, so she said it would be easy for me. He would want whichever of the girls hadn’t been with anyone. I could save the girl and they would go back and tell Viktor what I’d done. He would invite me to be part of his faction.”