Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Then he’ll have to hold off on splurging for a week.” I grip her arm nowhere near as firmly as Vasily did earlier, before spinning her toward my ride. “We had a deal. Your ass is mine for a week.”
“Over my dead body,” Vasily shouts loud enough for even Sasha to hear like I’m not two seconds from decking him. He’s pushed all my buttons tonight. There isn’t one left to push. But I know the instant I react, Polina will renege on our deal.
As much as Feo’s death changed me, I’m not a man who will ever force her to do something she doesn’t want to do, so if I want her out of her apartment for a week, I need to maintain my cool.
After glaring at Polina in more threat than the annoyance of a scorned lover, Vasily slips onto the driver’s seat of a flashy car before tearing out of the lot like a maniac.
I roll my lower lip between my teeth to hide my smile when sparks of the Polina I would give anything to fight with shines bright. “Is that enough machoism to keep your chest inflated for the next week, or do you need a few more scenes?” She nudges her head to the warehouse. “Perhaps we should go back in there so you can bang your chest in front of an audience. I’ve heard chimpanzees work for free when their egos are inflated. I’m sure it will be the same for you.”
The angry lines hardening her face soften when I ask, “You mad at me or him? Because I can sure as fuck tell you whose side I’d be on if anyone bartered for time with my girl.” A vein in her neck flutters faster when I step closer. “It wouldn’t be the lawful side, that’s for sure.”
When she remains quiet, I remove her clutch from under her arm, then nudge my head to the ride that seems even more rusty now after taking in Vasily’s gleaming car. The beat-up piece of shit I was getting around in before I followed Ana to Europe is covered with so much dust you’d have no clue the paintwork is blue.
“Let’s get out of here before they start throwing peanuts at my feet. I don’t want to embarrass myself by gathering them up like I did when I was starving, and the half-eaten nuts on the tavern floor were my only source of food.”
“Yev…” Polina cusses under her breath before slowly trudging to the passenger-side door Sasha is holding open for her.
He smiles at her praise before locking eyes with me over the top of my car. “Should I send someone over to your place tonight to make sure you two haven’t killed each other, or do you think you’ve got a handle on this?”
“I’ve got a handle on it.” I sound on the opposite end of my reply. “Do you want me to drop you off somewhere?”
Sasha throws his head back and laughs. “In that piece of shit? I’m good.”
I’m green with envy when he pushes a button on his keys, and the headlights flash on a sports car I’m certain wasn’t meant to be released until next year.
The tuft of hair my gel successfully held down the past two hours springs free when I shake my head. “I’d be envious if my win didn’t lose you a ton of money tonight.”
His laughter is thunderous. “You think Vasily was the only dweeb who put money on you? Every cent I paid out tonight was siphoned from the other bookies.” He leans in close so his next set of words is only for my ears. “No one was sure you’d have a second round in you. From what I’ve heard around the barracks the last couple of months, the only opponent you’ve been fighting is depression.”
He's spot fucking on, but I’m never going to admit it.
After a quick farewell head bob, I twist the keys in the ignition, then sling my eyes to Polina. My quick movement wafts up the scent of unwashed socks and underwear, but I act ignorant since this is my only mode of transport, and my apartment block is twenty miles from here.
Being poor doesn’t bother me. I didn’t have a cent to my name for so long, I often forget that my bank accounts were once sporting seven figures. But if it did, my earnings from tonight’s fight still wouldn’t be referenced when claiming victory. The angry grunts of the woman wrangling a disobedient seat belt would be the only thing mentioned.
My gym bag is puffed out with money, yet I’d give it all away in an instant to watch Polina fight with my seat belt for a few more minutes. She gets in such a tizzy while trying to get the lock mechanism to disengage that the scent of her heated skin overtakes the rotting gym bag I forgot I tossed in the back seat when Alek rang me, begging me to find Ana over four and a half years ago.