Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Tears sting my eyes at the thought. They've already hurt so many people because of me. I curl my hands into tight fists, letting my fingernails score my palms. The little pain steadies me, keeps me from falling apart.
He's coming back, I remind myself. It's my mantra, the only thing keeping me together.
"You should try to get some sleep," Luke murmurs, his voice soft.
"I'm not very tired," I lie, avoiding his gaze. I'm exhausted, but I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see Ivan's face. I smell his breath as he looms over me, his face contorted with rage. I hear him growling that I belong to him, and that Octavio is going to die for taking me. My cheek still stings where he struck me. My scalp is bruised where he clutched my hair as he tried to drag me across the parking lot.
He was so angry. He kept saying I was going to regret leaving him. I shiver at the memory, wrapping my arms around myself. I was never his and now I never will be.
Luke watches me carefully, but he doesn't try to convince me to go to bed. Instead, he grabs a blanket off the back of the couch and wraps it around me.
"Thanks."
He sits in the chair across from me, his elbows on his knees as he looks at me. "He's going to be okay, Faith."
I jerk my head in a nod.
"Octavio isn't going to let anything take him away from you." Luke's lips tip up into a Ilya, savage smile. "He'll kill every Bratva member in the city before he lets that happen, little one."
I flinch at the thought.
Luke notices.
"If he does that, he'll go to prison," I explain. "And they win."
"He's not going to let that happen either," Luke promises me. "He loves you, Faith. It'll take a lot more than the Bratva to drag him away from your side now. Do you want to talk about what happened?"
I shrug, glancing down at the blanket spread over my lap. The edges have fringe on them. I run the soft fabric through my fingers. "We were kissing and then they started shooting. Octavio told me to call for help, and then he went to deal with them, but it was a trap. Ivan was waiting for him to leave me there. He said I shouldn't have left him and that it was my fault Mikhail was deported. He said he was going to kill Octavio for taking me from him."
"He hurt you."
I nod, reaching up to touch my cheek. It's still hot to the touch, and tender.
"You're going to have a good bruise," Luke says, grimacing like it's his fault somehow. His eyes darken, his expression turning angry. "Do you know why they want you back so badly?"
I shake my head. "Ivan said I belong to him, but I don't. I'd kill myself before being with someone like him. He's evil. He always…. I think he would have r-raped me a long time ago if he wasn't so scared of Nikolai. I guess Nikolai finally decided to let him have me." I pause, licking my lips. "I'm glad Octavio killed him. Does that make me a horrible person?"
"Fuck no," Luke says without hesitation. "Sedov was a prick, Faith. You're allowed to be glad he's dead. Hell, you're allowed to hope it hurt like a motherfucker when he died. I certainly hope it did. I imagine Octavio feels the same damn way."
"Have you heard anything?"
"Not yet, sweetheart."
I sigh heavily and curl up on the couch, resting my head against the plush arm. I close my eyes, but as soon as I do, I see Ivan's angry face again, hear him telling me that I'm going to regret leaving him. I feel his hand in my hair and see the excited gleam in his eyes. A shiver rips through me. I jerk upright again, scrubbing the palms of my hands against my eyes like that'll erase the memory of him from my mind.
"Right after I met you, Octavio told me that he taught you the Apostles' Creed," Luke murmurs. "He said I'm supposed to tell you to recite it if you ever get scared."
I drop my hands, staring at him in surprise. My heart flutters, tears springing to my eyes. All this time, even when he wasn't with me, Octavio tried to make sure I never felt a moment of fear.
God, I love him so much.
I should have told him. It doesn't even matter if he says it back. I know he loves me. I feel that truth all the way to my soul.
Luke gives me a gentle smile, not commenting when I brush away tears. "Say it for me now, Faith."
I recite it for him in English and then in Russian, my voice shaking with emotion. Somehow, the words calm me down again. Or maybe it's the certainty that Octavio loves me that calms me. I don't know, but by the time I finish the prayer, Ivan's face no longer hovers behind my eyelids, twisting my stomach into painful knots.