Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Krista offers me a small smile. “I know it’s hard to see right now, but he truly is a generous man, and he certainly is worthy of that intrigue,” she offers, giving me a knowing smile before taking a heavy breath and fixing her stare on me. Her eyes fill with a heaviness that puts me on edge, and I watch her a moment before she finally says what she needs to say. “I’ve been warring with myself whether I should open up about this or not. I don’t know anything about the place you were kept before you came here, the conditions or the horrors you were subjected to, but I do know that you’re going to be okay.”
Krista offers me a small smile, and when my brows furrow, confused by why she’s bringing this up, she goes on. “When I was sixteen, I was stolen right out of my family’s home. Three men broke into my home, and after being forced to watch them murder my father and rape my mother, I was taken.”
I suck in a gasp, my mind jumping right back to the night I was stolen off the sidewalk.
“I was held in a basement for three months before being sold into the sex trade,” Krista continues. “I was young and perky, so the older men flocked toward me, and seeing that I was worth some kind of value, I was sold once again. There was an auction, which I can only assume was somewhat like yours, and by the end of the night, I was claimed by some rich man in Siberia. However, on my journey to what would have been my new home and quite possibly my death, we were intercepted by Killian and his men. He claimed me as his own, much like he did you.”
Hearing her story brings tears to my eyes, and I hastily wipe them away as she hands me a tissue. “Do not feel sorry for me,” she says. “I don’t see myself as a victim, nor should you. While I have had a horrifying journey, all roads led me here, and this is where I’ve found my happiness and was able to rebuild my life.”
I nod and swallow over the lump in my throat. “Whether you wish for me to feel sorry for you or not, I’m still sorry that you had to go through those things,” I tell her. “My story, while terrible, isn’t as gut-wrenching as yours. I didn’t have a family growing up. I was in the foster system and jumped from home to home, but I always wished for a family. I couldn’t imagine how terrible it would have been having to watch your parents being hurt in that way.”
Krista nods and forces a tight smile, though there’s no denying the pain in her eyes. “It was a long time ago.”
My heart aches for her, and not wanting to linger on such a painful time in her life, I move on. “So, you and Killian,” I ask, my mind lingering on the way she said he claimed her in a similar way he did me. “Were you . . . together?”
“Oh, gosh no,” Krista laughs. “Don’t get me wrong, being saved by Killian at such a young age, I thought I was in love with him. For years, all I wanted was to please him and be something to him, but he never once touched me. He only ever looked at me like a little sister, and looking back, I’m grateful that he never laid a hand on me. I was too young and still healing from everything I’d experienced. Instead, he gave me a kitchen, and I fell in love with cooking. I owe my life to him, and I truly hope that one of these days, you’ll be able to see beneath the cruel exterior to the wonderful man that I see.”
I nod, hoping she’s right because the alternative—a life living in fear—simply won’t do.
Once Krista finishes preparing lunch for Killian’s meeting and his associates begin to arrive, I take myself deeper into his home where I can keep myself hidden away until they’re gone. I have no doubt that Sergiu is here, wandering the hallways, and considering how boldly he walked into my bedroom, I have no desire to be in there if he chooses to do it again.
I find the library and try to immerse myself in a book in the furthest corner from the entrance, which also allows me the perfect view of the expansive driveway through the bay windows. I keep my gaze focused on the pages of the book, but after two hours of hiding out in here, I haven’t taken in a single word.
Instead, my attention has been on the bay window, watching and waiting for everyone to leave.