Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Keira—”
But then she was through the door and into the hallway. Keira made it to the entranceway when a female voice called from the top of the stairway. “I know you’re not leaving without saying hello to me, because I will kick your ass from here to New York and back.”
“Charlie!” Keira took the steps two at a time.
Charlie Moreaux stood at the top of the stairs, her white-blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed in faded jeans and a tank top. She grinned. “Hey there, trouble.”
“Me trouble? You trouble.” She grabbed Charlie’s hands and lifted her arms to get a better look at the cuts scabbing over her pale skin. They formed a neat little line up one arm and down the other. “Fuck, that bitch did a number on you.” Tortured. She wouldn’t say the word aloud. It made it all too real, and she didn’t think her friend would like the reminder.
“I survived.” She said it simply—a fact—but her blue eyes were concerned. “I know you don’t want to be handled with kid gloves, so I’m just going to put it out there. Are you okay? Last anyone heard from you was Cillian frantically calling Aiden to say Romanov had taken you.”
“He didn’t take me. I left.” It wasn’t quite the truth, but it was the only one that mattered. Keira took a deep breath. It was easier to play the pissed-off sister with Aiden. His protective instincts made him act like a fool sometimes. Charlie wasn’t like that. She was Keira’s friend—or at least they’d been headed in that direction. “Look, not too long ago, you asked me if I was falling for him.”
“Pretty sure you told me to fuck right off with that nonsense.”
“Yeah, well.” Keira looked away and then back. “Maybe it was a case of the lady protesting too much.”
“Keira…” Charlie pressed her lips together. “You’re a smart girl. He might be dangerous and kind of sexy in a murderous sort of way, but you have to know that you’re just a pawn for him.”
“It’s not as simple as you think—or anyone thinks.” Keira shrugged, going for somewhere between nonchalant and angsty. If they thought Dmitri was manipulating her into giving them the answers he wanted, nothing would stop Aiden from going after Romanov with everything he had. “We meet each other’s needs. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement.” She could see the disbelief simmering in her friend so she held up a hand. “I’m sober, Charlie. Actually honest-to-God sober. I haven’t had a drink or a smoke since I left.”
“Seriously?” Charlie frowned. “Doc Jones told Aiden you were through withdrawal, but it was hard to believe.”
She very carefully didn’t think of the vodka she’d stashed in her bathroom cabinet. Keira was nowhere near out of the woods, but she’d only weaken her argument if she admitted it. “It was a bitch. I don’t want to go through that shit again as long as I live.”
She still didn’t look convinced, but she sighed. “If you wanted out, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
Not a chance. “Yeah, of course. I might be the purveyor of bad life choices, but I don’t have a death wish.” Not anymore. Dmitri had effectively shocked her out of the numbness that had already started melting away with Charlie’s addition into her life, and she didn’t want to check out like that again. But that didn’t mean she had a clear view of where she wanted to go. She was Dmitri’s wife, but he only saw her as his possession.
Keira was damn tired of being moved around like an inconvenient table lamp.
Charlie nodded. “In that case, I’m sure there’s some shit you want from your room.” She made a face. “We threw out your drugs and did your laundry—gross, by the way—but everything else is untouched.”
“Thanks.” There were a few things she’d left behind that she’d wanted, and Keira grinned. “While I pack, tell me what you’ve been up to since I left. And write down your number for me again. This whole not talking to you thing has been a bitch.”
“You’re telling me.” Charlie followed her down the hallway toward her room. “We’re working on the Eldridge threat, but Aiden’s insisting on setting a June date for the wedding, so I’m having to deal with your mother for that.”
Keira winced. “My sympathies.”
“You’re telling me.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Give me one goddamn reason why I shouldn’t shoot you in the face and be done with this mess.”
Dmitri sighed. “Again with this? You won’t kill me, because not only would it upset your sister, it would destabilize the power structure in New York and allow the Eldridges to capitalize on it—and become more of a threat than they already are. Then you really would have a war on your hands.” He pinned Aiden with a disdainful look. “But you already know that, don’t you? Don’t take your frustration out on me, O’Malley.”