Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I nod to myself and look up at the ceiling. “I could always jump off a bridge.”
“Not funny.”
“I know. Not helpful either. Alina would just have to marry you, and then you’d have to deal with Molchanie.”
“Please stay away from bridges. I’m not really interested in a wife right now.”
“Then you need to find Molchanie for me.”
He snorts softly like he thinks I’m kidding. Then he sighs when he realizes I’m not and finishes his drink. “That’s not going to go well.”
“And it won’t be easy, but what other choice do we have? Find Molchanie, take her out, and our problems disappear.”
“She’s a trained, skilled assassin. There’s no way she’s going to leave herself exposed.”
“You’ve got a week. That’s plenty of time.”
“Why me?”
“Because Cormac’s got a family to worry about, and Declan will run straight to Mom and Dad the second he finds out what’s going on. You’re the only person I trust.”
“Well, shit.”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
“I guess I might as well give it a try. She’ll probably cut my throat in a week either way.” He sighs and pushes himself up.
“I appreciate you, brother.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll keep you updated.”
I watch Finn go. I hate myself for involving him, but I can’t do this alone. I’ll need some family resources, but Dad will notice if I’m devoting too much of my time to hunting down Molchanie.
Finn’s got more leeway in our family. He’s not assigned to anything specific and is free to float between tasks. And because he’s a Whelan, that gives him more clout. He can pull a few soldiers and reassign them as needed without too much issue.
But I can’t rely on him. I have to figure out who Molchanie is and why she cares about Alina. Once I know that, I might be able to find a way out of this situation.
The TV is on softly when I close the door to Alina’s apartment behind me. It’s a little past two in the morning, and I stayed at the bar for as long as I could.
Eventually, I had to come home.
Alina’s sitting on the couch. She’s in a crop top and a pair of flannel pants and looks absolutely perfect. She’s pretending like she doesn’t know I’m home. Her eyes are glued to some paperback she’s got in her lap, which gives me a second to study her.
There are bags under her eyes. She looks stressed and unhappy. But she’s still so damn beautiful it breaks my heart.
“Are you sleeping in the guest room again?” she asks casually, not looking over.
“I planned on it.”
“Good.”
I don’t move. I don’t want to go upstairs to that empty room. I want my wife. I want to pull her against me in the middle of the night and kiss her mouth. I want her to know how badly I want her, but I can’t do it, not right now.
I’m dangerous.
Molchanie seems to care about Alina for whatever reason, but I’m afraid of what’ll happen if I keep getting close to her.
It might cloud my judgment. Or worse, it might make Molchanie decide that she doesn’t want Alina alive anymore after all.
I don’t know the stakes here, and until I do, I have to act like the worst-case scenario is possible.
And that’s Alina with her throat cut open.
“Did you wait up for me?” I hate myself for asking. I shouldn’t even be talking to her right now. I need to keep my distance so I can think clearly.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She snaps her book shut. “Just couldn’t sleep.”
“Been hard lately.”
“No thanks to you.”
“Alina—”
“Whatever, it’s fine.” She turns off the TV and gets off the couch. “I’m heading up.”
I watch her stride past me with her chin raised. I want to reach out and grab her wrist so badly it hurts. If I could press my lips to hers, she might understand. I’m not putting distance between us because I want to. I’m doing it because I’m toxic right now.
It kills me as much as it hurts her.
Probably even worse.
I let her pass. I watch her go. There’s nothing in this world I want more than to crawl into bed with her tonight.
Instead, I slink upstairs after she’s had a chance to get settled and disappear into the empty guest room.
Chapter 24
Alina
“You’re doing it again.” Kira leans against the display at my elbow, gesturing at the pile of sweaters on the folding board in front of me. “You’re stressing about something.”
“I’m so bad at hiding it.”
“Seriously, you’re walking around with a big glowing sign on your chest.”
“I need to take acting lessons or something.”
“Please don’t. It’s endearing. You wouldn’t be you without some casual stress cleaning.”
I sigh and push the sweaters aside. But that makes their stack get all wonky, and I have to spend a few seconds fixing it. Kira watches, shaking her head.