Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“Z!”
Her eyes are back on me, full of mischief. “What? Don’t act like you can’t feel the sparks. You’ve been panting like a dog in heat since we got here.”
“And you thought he was married, so you should have muzzled my mouth.”
When Maksim bounces his eyes between Zoya and me, his brows crinkling more the longer he stares, she discloses, “The blonde.”
“Slatvena?” Maksim asks, awakening my jealousy. Slatvena’s name rolled off his tongue in a seductive purr, and it has my claws out even without them having a single thing to sink into.
Maksim takes a moment to enjoy the anger burning me alive from the inside out before saying, “She is my assistant.”
The honesty in his tone doesn’t ease my jealousy in the slightest. If anything, it makes it worse. I’ve read many steamy stories about bosses and secretaries.
“She also wasn’t forced to attend yesterday’s festivities. She was there for the same reason every other spectator was.”
“For charity,” I assume.
Maksim laughs. Its rumble has me wanting to gloss over the part where I was drunk when we wed. I’ve never heard a more panty-wetting noise. “She went to enjoy the view.”
Zoya clicks on faster than me. “Oh…”
When she gives me a look that no one over sixteen should be able to read, I mimic her reply but with more shock. “Oh.” With my jealousy contained but my confusion still apparent, I ask, “Then why not marry her?”
With Maksim and Zoya stumped, Aleena jumps back in. “It needs to look authentic.” Her face screws up like she sucked a lemon. “If it doesn’t appear legitimate, the inheritance will be voided.” When she realizes my concern is growing instead of dissipating, she shifts on her feet to face Zoya and then hooks her thumb to the door. “We should probably go. This is a private matter. We don’t want to intrude.”
When Zoya nods in agreement, I glower at her.
Who is this alien, and what did she do with my best friend?
When she leans in to hug me, I hold on tight. “If you leave me now, I’ll disown you for life.”
“He won’t hurt you, Keet,” she breathes into my neck, announcing she understands the catalyst of my worry. It isn’t physical harm I’m afraid of. I am terrified as to what this man could do to my heart. He’s had it in a flutter since the day we met, and I see it worsening now. “He only wants to help you.”
Before I can ask why he would want to do that, she wiggles out of my hold and makes a beeline for the door, hot on Aleena’s tail.
I’d take off after them if I weren’t naked.
I feel Maksim’s eyes on me, and despite the alarm bells sounding in my head, I bring my eyes back to his. His almost sable eyes have lost the icy brutality they held in the washroom. They’re hooded as he awards me a sultry gaze.
“Did we…?”
I’m grateful he can understand me without the rude gestures Zoya forever requires. “No.” I flinch, waiting for the brutal slap my ego is about to get hit with. It never arrives. “Not for a lack of want. You were drunk.” He drags his hand along his jaw, tracing a tremor there. “And possibly drugged.”
“Drugged?”
He drops his hand from his jaw before working it side to side. “I knew Riccardo wouldn’t try anything while Kazimir was with you, so I allowed my security team to continue their operation.”
Riccardo? Kazimir? I have no clue who these people are, but I have more pressing matters to address. “Was I alone with Riccardo long?”
I breathe a little easier when Maksim shakes his head. “As soon as I was alerted of his re-appearance by my security team, I immediately returned to the hotel.” He looks impressed while saying, “When I arrived at your suite, you were in the process of threatening him if he didn’t leave.”
The smile I’m struggling to hide radiates in my tone when I ask, “Arteries or dismembering?” When he arches a brow, seeking further explanation, my smile breaks free. “They’re my go-to threats. Arteries for the men who have no fear of living without their penises. Dismembering for the men who couldn’t think of a more torturous way to live. Sounds like he would be the former.”
“He was.” He stops, pulls an expression I can’t quite read, then asks, “What category do I belong in?”
“Depends,” I reply.
Maksim’s firm jaw reveals he doesn’t like extracting answers from people, but he plays along for my benefit. The more we interact, the less I’m freaking out about waking up married to a man who is practically a stranger. “On what?”
“On how you explain me waking up naked. If we didn’t have… sex, why am I without a stitch of clothing?”
His leer over my stumble of the word “sex” sends the pounding in my skull several inches lower. “You told me you didn’t want your dress to get crushed.” He waves his hand to a beautiful white lace dress hanging on the hook behind the door Zoya and Aleena recently fled through. “So you removed it while I showered, and climbed under the sheets.” He moves so close we breathe as one. “These were held far higher on your chest when I exited the bathroom. I wasn’t granted the slightest peek of your skin.” A scarlet hue creeps across my chest when he traces a figure-eight pattern on my cleavage. “It was for the best. I may have never left if you had added a teasing amount of skin to your numerous wordless begs.”