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)
“Yuri and I are in an alliance of six heads from six powerful families. We're not friends. We're not family. Half of us can’t stand the other half. But together, we're untouchable. There is no government or corporation or family or anything with as much power as we have.”
Alliance. Powerful families. Untouchable power.
I have to sit down on the couch after all.
Nikolai continues. "One day, Yuri asked me to find his daughter. He told me she ran away thirty years ago when she was seventeen." A muscle ticks in his jaw the way it always does when he’s annoyed. "I didn’t know anything about her, why she fled, or why she stayed missing all those years. But my instincts told me the old man was up to something. That there was more to the story. So I went looking for her like he asked me to. But I also looked into his past. I have vast resources. People who are experts in a diverse range of skillsets. So I had a forensic accountant look into Yuri’s finances and discovered that a week before your mother fled Yuri’s home, she had inherited a fortune from her grandfather. Yuri, however, was overlooked by his father in his will and got nothing. Two days later your mom was in a terrible car accident. Fortunately, she walked away from it. But she knew it was an attempt on her life.”
My hand goes to my mouth with a gasp. “By her father?”
“Yes, Yuri tried to kill her. He wanted her dead so he could get his hands on her money. Afterall, he was her next of kin. But she was too quick for him and was able to flee before he could try again.” He falls silent for a beat, then continues. “But Yuri never stopped looking for her. Even after having her legally declared dead.”
“Why?”
“Because Yuri doesn’t like loose ends. He couldn’t risk her resurfacing one day, and he wasn’t about to hand back all that money.”
My hands begin to shake. Then my whole body. Not from cold but from something deeper. Something that feels like the foundation of my entire life cracking beneath my feet.
“It took me a few weeks, but I eventually found her. Then I discovered she was dead. Died in a car accident with her husband. That, of course, led me to finding out she had a daughter."
"Me," I whisper.
"You."
There’s a blanket beside me and I pull it around my shoulders, but it does nothing to stop the cold spreading through my chest. "So you came looking for me."
He pulls in a deep breath, then lets it out roughly. "Yes."
I look away. “And you found me the night at the gallery…”
“No, I found you before that.”
I look up. “How long before?”
“Two weeks. Maybe three.”
“Three weeks.” I don’t understand. But as the seconds tick by, something slides into place. “You’d been watching me for three weeks?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew Yuri would come after you when he learned of your existence.”
My chest tightens. "You told him about me?"
He shakes his head. “No, I never mentioned you to him. But he’s got good instincts. He knew I was withholding information. So he had someone follow me. By the time I realized I was being followed, it was too late. I had led them to you.”
“How?”
“Because I couldn’t stay away, malyshka. I knew I had to protect you from the men he would send. So I followed you. Watched you.”
“You stalked me? Why didn’t you approach me?”
“Would you have believed me if I’d told you any of this?”
I’m finding it hard to believe him now, and I’m married to him.
I shake my head and look down. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“I knew I had to come up with a plan to protect you. That’s when I decided to marry you.”
“How would marrying you protect me?”
“The alliance Yuri and I are in. We live by a strict set of rules. The first rule being that all spouses and family of each member are off limits. They are protected. And if that rule is broken, then the member responsible for breaking it is not only removed from The Six, but they are also stripped of everything… fortunes… lives.”
“Meaning?”
“As my wife you’d be safe.”
“But why would you care if I was safe. I wasn’t anyone to you.”
“Because the moment I saw you, I wanted you to be.”
Warmth tugs at the edges of my frayed nerves. All this time it was about protecting my life.
But then another thought creeps in and sends an uneasy feeling into the pit of my stomach.
“How much was the inheritance Yuri stole from my mom?” I ask.
Nikolai hesitates long enough to feed the doubt circling in my gut.
“A hundred billion dollars.”
A gasp falls from my lips. “A hundred billion dollars?”
And there it is.
A hundred billion reasons why he would want to marry me.