Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“He lives on the Upper East Side, yes?” said Konstantin gently.
I stared. What?!
“You visit him, every few weeks.”
And the pain turned vicious and sharp. Oh God: Christina’s father was still alive! She’d already told Konstantin about him, which meant now I could never tell him about my real childhood. Even if we were together until the day we died, I’d never be able to share what happened. Reality sank in and it was crushing. I wasn’t FBI anymore but I’d still have to lie to him, every single day.
“We get on well,” I said, trying not to choke.
* * *
When we got back to the mansion, I told him I was going out to the garden for a while, even though the cold made my tooth ache. I needed to think. I needed to figure out if I could really do this. Being with Konstantin meant living a lie for the rest of my life and turning my back on everyone I’d ever cared about. My stomach lurched as I realized: I’ll never see my mom again, except as a stranger.
And did we really have a future together? He wanted a family. If he kept going on his current course, taking over New York and triggering a gang war, our kids would grow up knowing nothing but violence.
I needed help. And there was only one person I could talk to.
I pulled out the earpiece the FBI agent had slipped into my pocket at the hospital. I’d gotten so used to wearing one, but now when I put it in, it felt alien and wrong. To my surprise, I could hear someone already talking on it as I pushed it into my ear. “—ailey? Hailey, are you there, please!” It was Calahan and he sounded frantic.
“I’m here,” I said.
He didn’t ask if I was okay, or ask where the hell I’d been, or demand to know why it had taken me hours to put in the new earpiece. That’s how I knew something was very wrong. “Christina!” he snapped. “She escaped!”
“What?!”
“Hailey, she’s on her way to you!”
51
Hailey
I SPRINTED through the overgrown garden, ducking low branches and crashing through bushes. If Konstantin saw her, if she told him I was an imposter…. “What happened?” I yelled.
Calahan sounded as breathless with panic as I was. “We had her at a safe house. Two guards. She seduced one of them, stole his car. We’re tracking its GPS. She’s only a few streets away from you.”
“Stop her!”
“We’re in pursuit, but we’re not going to get there in time!”
I reached the back door of the mansion... and realized I didn’t have a plan. I knew I had to intercept her before she talked to Konstantin but what the hell was I going to do with her?
“Hailey, she’s there! She’s outside the mansion!” yelled Calahan.
I cut through the staff area, dodging maids and cleaning staff as I raced to the front of the mansion. I stumbled to a stop by the front door and wrenched it open—
The guard outside turned and looked at me in surprise. I scanned the driveway: no sign of Christina.
The guard was still frowning at me. I looked up at him. “What?” I asked.
He shook his head in wonder. “How did you get changed so fast?”
My eyes widened. I missed her! I turned and bolted up the stairs. Burst into our bedroom. A dark-haired woman spun around and—
The room seemed to rock and tilt under my feet. That sickening shift in reality, again. I was looking at myself.
Christina’s eyes narrowed. “You!” She was panting: she must have raced up here just like I had.
I put my hands up defensively. I had no idea what to say or what to do. Why the hell has she come here? If she exposed me to Konstantin, the FBI would have to rush in to try to save me. Maybe he’d kill me before they got there, maybe he wouldn’t, but either way they’d recapture Christina and she was facing serious prison time for the drugs they’d found in her car in Italy. By coming here she’d pretty much guaranteed she’d be caught. Why hadn’t she just driven to Mexico and disappeared? With any other woman, I’d have thought it was for Konstantin, to get her man back. But I knew she didn’t love him. So why?
A creak from the stairs. My heart jumped up into my throat and Christina gave me a cat-like grin. “I could fucking kill you,” she told me savagely. “But I’d rather watch him do it.”
I wasn’t ready for the raw emotion in her voice. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she does love him?
And then, before I could say anything, Konstantin’s voice came from the landing. “Christina?”
My eyes went wide as I saw Christina’s mouth open. No no no—
“In here!” yelled Christina. “Come in, I’ve got something to show you!”