Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Or the feeling of sickness in my chest that I was about to make life for him a hell of a lot harder.
“Strap in, Andrei, strap the hell in.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Alice
I wanted him.
More of him.
All of him.
I felt like I was on the edge peering over it, terrified to jump, wishing I was smart enough to swing to the other side and avoid danger altogether.
That’s what Phoenix had offered me.
Was I really ignoring the help and just closing my eyes and falling into darkness? By choice?
He trusted me.
And I was almost scared to admit, I trusted him too, Andrei Petrov, murderer, monster.
Lover.
Friend.
Ax interrupted us holding up what looked like his cell phone. I was ready to throw it across the room, but the look on his face told me it was important, so when he apologized by kissing me on the forehead and walking out of the room.
I sighed and lay back against the bed.
That was an hour ago.
And I had class that afternoon, a lab actually, I wasn’t sure if he was going to drive me again or give me some freedom to go to and from the school.
My bet was on guard duty.
I waited a little longer.
He wasn’t coming back, was he?
I crawled to the side of the bed, threw my legs over, stood, stretched, and decided to go put on a movie and plan out dinner before I took off. It was the least I could do, right?
Every cell that made up my body buzzed with the awareness of him, of the way he smelled, tasted.
I was high on a drug I didn’t even know I had taken until it was too late.
The kitchen was empty.
The door to the hall locked again.
Another prison.
Only I would have liked to stay in this one, if it meant Andrei stayed. I probably wouldn’t look back.
I made my way over to the fridge and pulled it open, but I wasn’t really seeing anything. My mind was too filled with what-ifs when it came to Andrei.
I felt different with him.
Alive.
Free.
I shut the door and leaned back against the counter. Phoenix’s words seemed to stamp themselves into my consciousness.
I wanted to ask Andrei what it meant.
I felt stupid having that conversation. Then again, how else were we supposed to get past the point of him wearing gloves, or being able to receive a touch, a kiss that wasn’t started by him?
My body shivered.
The sound of the lock turning and then the door opening had me turning toward the entrance.
My body gave a jolt when it wasn’t Andrei who stepped through but Ax. He grinned over at me and then tossed a pair of keys in the air and swiped them. “I’ve been sent to take you to class.”
I deflated a bit and nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if he was going to let me drive myself or if I was going to get a babysitter.”
“More like bodyguard,” Ax said softly. “He worries.”
“Does he?”
Ax’s expression sobered. “You really don’t understand, do you? What people would do to you if they knew? You’d be begging for death, and Andrei is under strict instructions if he’s ever in contact with a De Lange.”
I froze. “Wh-what?”
“Maim them first, kill a few days later so their anxiety spikes, or kill on sight.”
I gulped and looked down at my feet. “He took an oath?”
“Every one of the Italians, myself included, and Andrei, took a blood oath to each other, and to Chase, executioner of the De Lange line. According to the five families, we are now four, and the De Lange arm does not exist.”
It was like getting told my history was gone. Even though it wasn’t a proud history, it still existed, I was still a part of something, no matter how horrible or debasing it was.
And now, I was a walking contradiction.
Sleeping with the enemy.
Close enough.
No wonder Andrei didn’t trust me.
I wasn’t even supposed to be breathing. He’d warned me, he’d gone to great lengths to protect me.
And I still hadn’t fully grasped the situation until now. “What if I turned myself in?”
“Don’t!” Ax snapped. “Then I would be a dead man.”
“How so?”
“Andrei would slit my throat for failing to protect you even if it was from yourself.” He shrugged. “Now, grab your shit so we aren’t late.”
He pulled out a gun, his hand on the trigger as it hung at his side. His expression went from friendly to killer in seconds.
I quickly ran into my bedroom and donned my uniform, including thigh high boots, then ran out to meet him. “Ready.”
“Let’s go.” He opened the door and put his hand on the small of my back as we walked down the dimly lit hallways into the main part of the club.
Andrei was sitting at the bar with a man who looked vaguely familiar and a gorgeous woman with sharp features and her hair cut to her chin. Bright red lipstick painted her lips, and she was wearing leather pants and a loose sweater that fell over her shoulder. Her heels were spikey and looked expensive.