Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
With my head dipped down low, I follow a woman wearing a stained apron into the kitchen at the side of the dining table, pluck a semi-clean apron off the shelf, then tighten it around my waist.
“Where do you need me?” I ask a lady with wiry gray hair and a wrinkled face. The kitchen is the only place age is respected. The elder of the group is usually the hierarchy.
She peers at me with a long gray hair on her chin wiggling in the breeze. “Блюда.” When I look at her, lost, she places her hands on my shoulder, guides me to a sink full of bubbles, then makes a scrubbing movement with her hands. “Блюда. Yes?” When I pick up the first dirty dish and scrub it, her smile adds to the kindness in her eyes. “Yes.”
Ghost’s men and a small handful of women were fed first, then we moved on to the crew before eventually setting our focus on the women downstairs.
Their rooms have locks too, but they’re on the outside of their doors, and they don’t have access to any keys.
They were me eight years ago, except they are on a cargo ship instead of a plane.
“What time tomorrow?” I ask Vera.
With breakfast crossing into lunch before it eventually encroaches on dinnertime, I’ve done nothing but cook, wash, and serve all day.
I am exhausted and ready for bed.
“Five a.m.”
I inwardly cringe. I’ve never been a morning person. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I remove my apron and place it on the stack some unfortunate person will clean overnight before trudging back to my room. My feet are aching, and I’m reasonably sure I have a blister the size of my big toe on my little toe.
I almost curse for the second time today when my entrance into my room has a grumbling voice shuddering through my chest. “Close the door behind you.”
“Gh-Ghost. Hello.” I shut the door as requested, suck in a big breath, then spin around to face him. “About this morning—”
“Lift your nightie,” he interrupts, his eyes locked on my hips.
“Wh-what?”
“First, you snub my invitation to eat, then you have the hide to steal from me.” He lifts his eyes to my face. “And now you act ignorant. Take. Off. Your. Nightie.”
When he stands in preparation to force the removal of my clothes, I do it myself. I whip it over my head so fast, crumbs from bread rolls I stuffed under my nightie float off my sweat-dotted skin and land on the floor between us.
Ghost’s voice is deadly when he snarls out, “You stole from me in front of me.”
“No.” I shake my head so fast my hair slaps my face. “They were the bread rolls no one wanted. The half-eaten ones.” My reply seems to anger him more, so I may as well be honest. “There isn’t enough food for everyone, so instead of wasting the bread rolls that were barely touched, I collected them. They’re hungry, Ghost. Hungrier than you could ever imagine.”
A quiver almost hits my knees when he takes a step closer to me while asking, “They?” When I suck in a sharp breath, he snaps out, “Lie to me and I won’t feed them for a week.”
“The women,” I blurt out, aware they won’t last a week. Not in the condition they’re in. “The women in the orlop.” When surprise overtakes his anger, I murmur, “My father liked ships.” I freeze when I realize my error. “Likes ships. He likes them.” I breathe out the familiar pain in my chest memories of my family forever instigate before confessing, “There wasn’t enough to go around, so I gave them the bread no one wanted.” When silence prevails, I ignore the screams of my aching feet and head back for the door. “I’ll go make extra bread for tomorrow. We have plenty of flour.”
I freeze when Ghost mutters, “Flour that is not for you nor them. It is not yours to distribute how you see fit, Pаб.” I hate that he’s resorted to the nickname everyone else calls me, but I won’t let him know that. “Shower and bed. Your penance is no supper.”
My stomach’s loud grumble should announce my penance is already being served.
I haven’t eaten since last night.
Before I can escape into the bathroom, Ghost’s hand shoots out to seize my wrist. “Don’t steal from me again.” His angry eyes bounce between mine. “Especially in front of my men. Don’t force me to make an example out of you because I guarantee you will not like the results.”
He pushes me away from him like he can’t stand the sight of me before he leaves our room in a hurry.
11
KATIE
“Excuse me,” I apologize to the gentleman I’m currently clearing his setting. “It has a mind of its own.”
He grunts in response to my apology about my grumbling stomach before he pushes back from his chair, leaving me to scrape his plate brimming with a range of delicious breakfast treats. He didn’t touch his pancakes. He only ate the slices of bacon he loaded next to them and left the rest of his meal untouched.