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)
“Is that some kind of code for a game you want me to play to win your affection?”
He rolled his eyes. “Moya koroleva, you already possess my affection. I merely want you not to allow fear to get the best of you. Stand by my side. Fight with me. When we are sure of our victory, we can do whatever it takes to make you feel better about our current situation.”
He was handling her, but he was also being completely transparent about it, so she couldn’t be too pissed. Keira sighed. “I should have chosen a better time to freak out about it, huh?”
“I highly doubt you chose it at all.” He kissed her, quick and light, a reassuring touch. “Love was unexpected for me, as well. There’s nothing wrong with reacting honestly.”
He didn’t quite stress the word honestly, but she felt it all the same. Keira took a breath, and then another. “I should get dressed.”
“Do you need help?”
“No, I’m fine.” She would have said it even if she wasn’t. He was already tweaked out about her back—he didn’t need to know the bruises hurt like a motherfucker and she had a hard time twisting in some directions. It would just start another argument, and seeing as how Keira couldn’t skip this party even if she wanted to, it was all a moot point.
He gave her a long look, and finally nodded. “Pavel will stick close to you.” He kissed her again and released her. “We don’t have much time.”
A quick glance at the clock had her cursing. An hour shouldn’t be the end of the world, but when it came to getting glammed up, Keira needed all the time she could get. At least if she was focusing on her lipstick, she wouldn’t be focused on the fact that, in sixty minutes, she’d be face-to-face with her family and Dmitri’s allies.
She wasn’t sure which of them she dreaded seeing more.
Dmitri took a precious ten minutes to go over the plan with Pavel and Alexei one last time. He had no logical reason to think the attack would come tonight, but his instincts said it would. Alethea was too smart to miss the opportunity to cut him off at the knees publically. His allies and enemies knowing that he was vulnerable would do just as much damage as anything she could physically do.
They were as ready as they could be.
His men had barely closed the door when it opened again. Aiden O’Malley strode into Dmitri’s office as if he owned it, but for once he was blessedly alone. He stopped too close, his green eyes furious. “Where is she?”
“Not locked in the tower, since I don’t actually have a tower in this place.”
His jaw tightened. “That shit is not funny, Romanov.”
“On the contrary, if I didn’t find your insistence on the idea of Keira as a damsel in distress amusing, it would be infuriating.” For once, he found no joy in Aiden’s aggravation. They didn’t have time for that song and dance—not tonight. He needed Aiden O’Malley at the top of his game, and he wouldn’t be if he was so distracted by his little sister. “She chose, Aiden. Respect it, or lose her.”
“You mean you’ll take her.”
Family blurred the lines beyond recognition. Dmitri understood that, even as he wanted to shake some sense into the man. “No,” he said gently. “What I mean is that Keira herself will draw the line in the sand. She’s not the same baby sister you seem to be clinging to—she hasn’t been for some time.”
Aiden stared at him for several long moments and finally growled. “This conversation might be put on hold until we can take care of the Eldridges, but it’s not over.”
Dmitri couldn’t make the man see reason, but for Keira’s sake, he was willing to try. A little. He and Keira had found the beginnings of a balance, but they were by no means out of the woods. She might love Dmitri, but she didn’t trust him completely. That was something that could be addressed with time—actions spoke louder than words and the like. Having her family continue to insist that she didn’t know what she wanted would wear on her, and it might possibly send her back to the bottle.
He couldn’t risk it.
Dmitri lowered his voice so the O’Malley had to lean in to hear him. “Make no mistake, Aiden, I don’t want a war with you. That was never the goal.”
“Easy to say that now.”
“I am not finished.” He strove to keep control and not throttle this fool. “I will not take Romanov to war against O’Malley and the others in Boston, but if you harm Keira with this insistence that her choices are invalid, I will carve out your fucking heart and force you to eat it.”