Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“So what changed? If he was fine with you leaving, you’d think he’d want to forget you even existed.”
“If only.” She picked at the hole in her jeans over her knee. “Andrei was obsessed with making things right, and for whatever reason, he decided that making me a Romanov was the way to go. He set up an account with a truly ridiculous amount of money that will be mine once I officially change my name and take my place in the family.” He’d left her mother a villa in the South of France, which would have made a normal person happy, but all her mother had ever wanted was an official place at the Romanov table, and seeing Olivia granted that option—and rejecting it—was the final straw. She was under strict instructions never to contact her mother again—as if she was in danger of ever doing that.
“Except you don’t want it.” He didn’t sound judgmental one way or another—just stating a fact.
“No, I don’t want it.” Maybe her life would be easier if she could just fall in line like a good little soldier, but that had never been her way. There might be more money than she could wrap her mind around waiting for her if she did what Andrei had wanted, but the strings that were attached with it were legion.
And those strings would pass down to Hadley.
Even if she was willing to take the hit for herself and choose a comfortable material life in exchange for…everything…she couldn’t do that to her daughter. Hadley deserved to grow up in a world where she was able to make her own mistakes, without being used as a political pawn or exposed to the darker side of organized crime. That kind of thing was all well and good in theory or fiction, but the reality was that even on the outskirts, Olivia had seen things she wished she could wipe from her mind. She couldn’t imagine how much more she would have experienced if she’d been treated like Andrei’s actual daughter.
No, thanks.
The silence stretched on as they passed mile marker after mile marker. Finally, Cillian said, “So what changed? You’ve been in Boston for about six months by my count. Why are things going sideways now?”
She watched his face in the growing shadows, the lights of passing cars playing off his cheekbones. God, he’s too gorgeous to be real. It’s not fair. And she was heading off into the country with him. She called and he came, no questions asked. That made him even sexier, if that were even possible.
Down, girl.
She wasn’t supposed to be lusting after her savior. She was supposed to be explaining the situation so he could change his mind about taking on her mess. Olivia studied his expression, but he gave her nothing to go off of. He wasn’t freaking out, and he wasn’t totally dismissive of it. It kind of blew her mind. If she’d found out that a person she thought was just an average Joe was actually connected to one of the most powerful crime families on the East Coast, she’d have at least muttered a few choice words under her breath. Not Cillian, though.
But then, he was a member of a family that could be classified in the same way. Maybe this was all in a day’s work for him.
She looked out the window and settled back into her seat. Or tried to. Her muscles were so tense, she could already feel a headache starting at the top of her spine. “Before our father died, Dmitri gave his word that he’d see it done. He won’t break it.”
Cillian snorted. “He has no problem breaking his word.”
It sounded like he had personal experience with that, which lined up with the comment Dmitri had made when he showed up to threaten her. Part of her wanted to know what the O’Malleys had done to earn his enmity, but most of her was just so damn tired. It never ends. “You’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not.”
She sighed. “Look, I don’t like Dmitri. I actually kind of hate him, but once he gives his word, he doesn’t break it.” She hesitated. “But he’s as slippery as they come when it suits him, so it’s possible that he manipulated the situation to meet his needs.”
“That’s as good as lying.”
“I’m not arguing that.” She went back to picking at her jeans. “But whatever his faults, he loved Andrei. He’s going to do whatever it takes to see his last wish fulfilled, regardless of how I feel about it.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t want you back there because he actually cares about you?”
She snorted. “Dmitri can barely stand me. I’m like an itch he can’t manage to scratch. It irks him.” And here was the part that would make or break how Cillian felt about her. “He came to visit me today. Somehow he found out about us—though it’s kind of too soon to call this an ‘us’ I think—and he…he wanted me to spy on you.”