Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Meaning Nikolai and I will be here alone.
Oh God.
"But I make you something nice for Christmas," Katya adds with a kind smile. "Can't let a little blizzard ruin the holiday, right?"
Christmas. I'd almost forgotten it’s only three days away.
I should be home right now. Should be with Nana, drinking eggnog and watching sickly sweet holiday movies.
I take a sip of cocoa to fight off the thoughts.
"How long have you worked for him?" I ask.
"Many years," Katya says, adding butter to the pot. It sizzles and fills the kitchen with a rich, savory scent. "Since he was boy. I knew his parents, God rest them."
Andrei pulls up a stool next to mine. "Katya basically raised him. Don't let her tell you otherwise."
"I did not raise him," Katya protests, but there's a smile tugging at her lips. "His mother raised him. I’m just the cook."
I watch her work, mesmerized by the practiced ease of her movements. Beef goes into the pot, browning quickly. Mushrooms follow. The smell is incredible, making my stomach rumble.
"You like to cook?" Katya asks me.
"I'm okay at it," I admit. "Nothing like this though."
"Then you watch. You learn." She gestures to the ingredients spread across the counter. "Cooking is love, yes? You put good things in, you get good things out."
Andrei snorts. "That's Katya's philosophy for everything. Not just food."
"It is true philosophy," Katya says firmly, adding cream to the pot. "You cannot expect good if you do not give good."
The words hang in the air, and I wonder if she's trying to tell me something. Some kind of coded message about Nikolai, maybe.
“Katya, if I wanted to go into town—”
"Mr. Morozov would not like that," she says, stirring more ingredients into the pot. "The roads are getting dangerous. The weather bleak. No, you stay here where it is nice and warm and I feed you."
She and Andrei share a look, and my stomach sinks. They know. Of course they do. And they're too loyal to Nikolai to help me, no matter how kind they seem.
If I press it, they might tell him, and he would probably lock me in my room all day and I couldn’t bear it.
"The storms out this way," I say, changing the subject. "Exactly how bad do they get?"
"Bad bad," Andrei says, his eyes lighting up. "Last year we got snowed in for almost a week. The drifts were up to the second-floor windows. It was insane."
"But beautiful," Katya adds softly. "Very quiet. Very peaceful. Like the world stops."
I take another sip of cocoa, trying to imagine being trapped here for a week. Alone with Nikolai, with nothing but snow and silence and whatever tension keeps building between us every time we're in the same room.
Katya begins preparing more dishes, and I sit and watch the easy banter between her and Andrei. And for just a moment, sitting in this warm kitchen with these kind people, I can almost pretend everything is normal.
"More cocoa?" Katya asks, noticing my empty mug.
"Please."
She refills it, adding an extra sprinkle of chocolate on top with a conspirator's wink. "Who cares about calories at Christmas."
Andrei checks his watch. "I should get going soon. I need to meet someone in town."
"How far away is town?" I ask.
"About twenty minutes down the mountain when the roads are good." He grabs his coat from a hook by the door, then turns to me with that easy smile. "Nice meeting you, Holly. Hope you enjoy your stay."
Stay. As if I'm here on vacation.
But his smile is so genuine, so warm, that I can't help but return it. "You too, Andrei."
After he leaves, the kitchen feels quieter. Katya continues her work, and I sit at the counter, sipping cocoa and watching the snow begin to fall outside the windows.
"Katya?"
"Yes?"
"What does malyshka mean?"
She glances at me, something knowing in her eyes. "Little one. It’s a term of endearment.”
“And solnyshko?”
“Little sun. Another term of endearment. Why?"
"Oh, I was just wondering."
She doesn’t press. But I see the small smile touch her lips.
Little one.
Little sun.
Sweet names from the lips of a monster.
I drain the last of my cocoa and set the mug on the counter.
Outside, the snow falls faster, while in his den, Nikolai Morozov is working. Making calls. Conducting business.
And being the king of his dangerous empire.
While I sit here and wait to see what fate has in store for me.
10
NIKOLAI
The fire crackles and spits in the hearth, sending shadows dancing across the walls of my den.
I stand at the window watching the snow pile against the glass. Somewhere in this lodge, Holly is no doubt plotting her escape. Cursing my name. Killing me a thousand different ways in her head.
The thought makes me smile.
"It's done," Dmitri says from behind me.
I don't turn around. "The body?"
"Disposed of. No trace. No witnesses other than Holly."
The man I shot yesterday was a professional. Clean clothes. No identification. A gun with the serial numbers filed off. He knew what he was doing, which means someone sent him.