Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
With that, he held open the apartment door for me. And like a switch, his smile turned warm and friendly. “Have a good day, Mrs. Westbrooke. I hope we never have to see each other again.”
I snorted as I began my descent down the staircase. “Was that necessary?”
“I didn’t want to listen to her beg and plead for us to spare her pathetic fucking son,” he muttered. “I have a headache forming.”
I frowned at him once we were outside and dumping Crane into the backseat. Everyone minded their own business, knowing what happened to those in this neighborhood that didn’t. Besides, most of everyone here knew of James and his family, which meant they knew exactly who I was. “Are you okay?”
He sighed. “Nothing some Excedrin won’t fix,” he assured me. “Let’s go, kotik. We have a little rat to torture.”
Once we were in the car, I used the rope Mark tossed into the backseat to bind Crane’s wrists behind his back and tie his legs together. Once I was sure he was secure, I began to dig into my bag for headache meds. Ivan watched me with curiosity but kept his mouth shut. It was only when I pulled out my bottle of Excedrin that a small smile tilted his lips.
“Worried about me, kotik?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” I muttered, shaking out two pills and handing them over. He tossed them into his mouth and dry-swallowed them. I screwed the lid back onto the bottle, then tossed it back into my bag. A surprised gasp ripped from my lips when Ivan suddenly gripped my chin and yanked my head around to face him. Then, his lips were on mine, and I moaned softly, leaning into him.
“Thank you,” he murmured, his lips rubbing mine with each word. He opened his eyes, locking them on mine. “You continue to surprise me, kotik.”
A light flush crawled up my neck. Suddenly feeling nervous, I quietly asked, “You said I’m yours, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “I did, yes.”
I drew him close, letting him rest his head on my shoulder. He groaned and relaxed into my side, his eyes shutting. “Then, that means you’re mine, too,” I said softly. “So even though you’re the… dominant one in our relationship—” he snickered “—let me take care of you sometimes, too, yeah?”
He hummed, sinking deeper into my side, his hand coming down to curl around my thigh. Mark pulled off from the curb and into the light traffic on the street. “Sure, kotik. Mark, take us back to the Jackson estate. I think it’ll be perfect to repay this mother fucker in the same place he betrayed the family.”
“Yes, sir,” Mark answered.
I looked down at Ivan, roaming my eyes over his face. “I don’t feel so crazy when you’re next to me,” I blurted.
He barked out a surprised laugh. “That’s because I embrace my sanity, kotik. And one day, you will, too.”
I just hummed in response. He was probably right, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it.
The day I gave into my sanity would no doubt be the day I fell for him completely. I still hadn’t decided if giving into Ivan completely would be a good or bad thing.
21
Ivan
“James is awake,” Adrian announced as we neared the estate. I slowly blinked my eyes open, not realizing I’d dozed off. But my headache was wearing off, now just a dull ache I could tolerate. Lifting my head, I leaned back on the seat and yawned, rubbing at my eyes.
“That’s good,” I grumbled, my voice husky with sleep.
Adrian was typing away at his phone as he said, “I’m telling Darren to get him discharged and get him to the safe house. I already sent the address to Jaxon. Dr. Lebedev is ready to go when they are. When we finish with Crane, I’ll pack them some bags, and we’ll take them to the safe house.”
I nodded, then turned to look out the window. The tree line was getting thicker, which meant we were getting closer to the estate. Leaning over, I looked around Adrian to Crane, who was still slumped against the opposite door, knocked clean the fuck out. A bit of blood was running down his temple.
“He’s going to have a nasty headache when he wakes up,” I mused.
Adrian snorted. When I turned my head to look at him, he was smirking at me, a sort of lightness to his eyes that wasn’t normally there. Sitting back up, I gripped his chin, turning his head to face me. He arched a questioning brow at me when I just stared at him, drinking him in. “What?”
“You were already sexy as fuck, but you seem… freer. It’s kind of breathtaking,” I confessed.
His lips quirked up at the corners into a sort of half smile. “That’s because you’re not used to seeing me not hate your guts.”