Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“What if you just told her?” Lili asks.
“Yeah. You’re not the enemy. She should know that,” Zoe says.
“I can’t. If her dad didn’t tell her, it’s because he needs this to look real, or he doesn’t trust her not to go running back to Brash Rostov.”
“True,” Leo says. “You think she’s in love with him?”
I shrug, keeping my face blank of the spike of irritation that notion causes. If she’s in love with him, she’ll be even harder to protect and in even more danger than her dad suspects.
Thank fuck, Adrian’s gut told him to get her away from him as quickly as possible.
“I need to find out. Anya, if I give you her phone tonight, can you set something up, so I can track her and all her calls and messages?”
Lili makes a sputtering noise. “You can’t do that. It’s an invasion of her privacy.”
“I’ve been charged with keeping her safe. I will do whatever’s necessary.”
It’s not that there’s now an ugly jealousy twining its way around my throat at the idea of my lovely bride being in love with another man.
Not at all.
“I just need her phone for twenty minutes,” Anya promises.
“Perfect. I’ll bring it to you after she goes to sleep.” I look at my sister. “Lili, I need you to corroborate the story. Dad arranged my marriage years ago. We both have known it all along.”
Lili rolls her eyes and blows out her breath, but nods. “When is the wedding? Seems like I should come since I am your sister. Shouldn’t I be a bridesmaid or something?”
“I want to be a bridesmaid!” Zoe perks up. Anya snorts.
“It’s just a trip to the courthouse after classes.” I glance at Anya. “Speaking of which–”
“Here’s the class schedule.” Anya hands me a printout with Lara’s classes. I take a quick scan of them. They are mostly in the linguistics department. It seems my bride is a modern languages major. I guess that explains why she attended college in Paris.
I take a photo of the schedule and text it to everyone. “Keep an eye out for her. Let me know if you see her with anyone who looks like trouble. I’ll find a photo of Brash and send it to you.”
Alex clears his throat like he wants to say something. I raise my brows.
“I don’t know if this is the right time, but…”
My control issues snap into place. If there’s a leak in my systems, our security, our enterprises, I need to know about it. “Tell me.”
“I overheard some of the guys on the team talking before practice. They didn’t know Feliks and I were there.”
Blyad’. “What’d they say?”
“I didn’t catch it all, but I definitely heard, take Baranov House down this year.”
Feliks nods his agreement. “We made the Titan House parties look lame last year.” Titan House is a male-only society house. Half of the football team are members, and the rest of the members are legacy–their membership insured through bloodlines that go back to the school’s origins.
Before Baranov House took over Thornecroft’s social landscape, they ruled the school with alpha male-oriented elite parties that attracted the most popular sorority girls.
I nod. I can handle whatever they bring. I expected trouble and have planned for it. “Okay. Try to figure out how they will hit us. I’ll grease all the right wheels before our party.”
“So back to this wedding. Do you have a ring?” Lili demands.
I wince. A ring. That would be a good plan for a wedding ceremony. Especially one we’re trying to make look legit.
I mean, it will be legit. By tomorrow night, Lara Turgeneva will be my wife.
Dark satisfaction floods me at that knowledge, but I tamp it down. Legally binding Lara to me is just the first move in this battle. There are too many unknown variables for me to celebrate my victory just yet.
“I’ll get a ring. And I’m going to be at the ceremony,” Lili says firmly. “How do I pay for it? Should I use Dad’s Amex?”
“No.” I reach in my pocket and pull my Gold Card out of my phone case to hand to her.
Lili inspects it and shakes her head. “You have your own Gold Card. I… don’t even want to know what’s going on over here.”
“No, you don’t,” Leo says, just as protective of my little sister as I am.
“I’ll pick you up for the ceremony,” I tell her.
“I’m coming too,” Leo says.
“Me too,” Zoe says.
Anya raises her hand, like we’re doing a head count. Phoenix and Anders also raise their hands.
“We’ll have football practice,” Alex says apologetically, tipping his head toward his younger but even larger brother.
“No worries,” I say. “It wasn’t really supposed to be a thing.”
“Isn’t it though?” Lili challenges me. “You’re getting married. And I know you’re doing your stoic, hard-to-read thing, but it seems to me like…” she pauses and raises her eyebrows, letting anticipation build.