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)
Call her a fool, but she hadn’t anticipated their reactions. She started to brush off Charlie’s concern, but stopped. Charlie had been there for her—had seen her—when the rest of her family was off in their own little world. She was Keira’s friend. If she couldn’t be at least a little bit honest with her friend, who could she be honest with? “I’m… okay. Going through withdrawal was fucking hell and I never want to go through that again.” If she concentrated, she could imagine the taste of vodka on her lips, and the craving never seemed to go away—especially after the near miss last night. Maybe it would fade in the coming days, weeks, months, but Dmitri’s earlier words kept her rooted in place. I don’t want to drink myself to death. I want to live.
“I’ll admit to having mixed feelings about that. I’m glad you’re sober, but Romanov’s methods leave something to be desired.”
She couldn’t argue that, but Keira knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he hadn’t kick-started that process for her, she might never have taken the first step. Numbness was too tempting—too comforting. She hadn’t wanted to give it up. She still craved it more than she rightfully should.
She flopped onto her back. “It’s weird being here. Not bad-weird, exactly, but the house is saturated with Dmitri’s presence. It’s like he’s imprinted on the entire thing, and there isn’t a room that’s exempt.”
She closed her eyes and, for the first time in years, tried to picture how she’d put that feeling into paint. Black and white and every shade of gray I can manage. Bold slashes. A speckle of… blue? No, a deep royal purple. Because he’s not a king—he’s a motherfucking emperor. Keira grinned and opened her eyes, her fingers itching for something that wasn’t a bottle. “I think I want to start painting again.”
Charlie was silent for a beat, another, a third. “Fuck, Keira, that’s wonderful. I won’t pretend I get what you see in him, but if you’re happy, that’s all that matters. It might take Aiden ten years to come around, but it will happen.”
The words stilled some of her budding excitement for painting. Ten years with Dmitri Romanov. Ten years would mean there were children. Ten years… She tried to picture what that life would be like and couldn’t wrap her head around it.
Things were too new, too unsettled. She and Dmitri might be trying to find common ground, but they hadn’t exactly managed it yet. Sex, they could do and do well—once she got out of her own way, at least. The rest of it? That remained to be seen. She couldn’t think about it too closely. She refused to. “Thanks.”
“I can’t wait to see you—even if it’s at your reception.”
Her fucking reception. She didn’t know what to think of Dmitri putting her in charge of it, but it was more complicated than she’d anticipated. There were so many moving parts. She had no idea how Carrigan did this shit on the regular. “Well, I’m the one organizing it and putting it together, so if there is a reception at this point, it’ll be a goddamn miracle.”
“I can’t pretend I know a single thing about that.” Charlie laughed. “I am not the party person. It’s all politics and making sure the right people sit next to the other right people so you don’t start an incident. It’s too subtle for my skill set.”
She could argue that Charlie was more than capable of being subtle when it suited her, but she and Keira got along so well because neither had that kind of personality. “You and me both.”
“You could always call Carrigan.”
She tried to picture how that conversation would go and sighed. “Only if I get desperate. I’m sure I can pull this thing out of my ass. It’s just a matter of getting it done.” She should be working on it right now, but after a meeting with the event planner where she snapped at the woman four separate times over things that shouldn’t have been a big deal, Keira rescheduled the rest of the meeting for another day. She couldn’t focus with worry over Dmitri nibbling away at the back of her mind.
She lifted the phone off her ear and checked the time. He’d been gone for three hours. No matter what kind of traffic he’d hit, he should have been there by now. Hell, he should have been there and dealt with it and called her to…
To report? Keira almost laughed, but not like anything was funny. Dmitri didn’t report to her. He didn’t have any obligation to check in with her like he was her husband. Even if that’s exactly what he was.
She sat up. “Hey, Charlie, I’m going to call you later.”
“Sounds good. Hang in there.” She didn’t offer to extract Keira, which she appreciated. The sooner her family made their peace with her choosing to be here, the better.