Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
We have years to make up for. I want this to last as long as possible.
“Please, Mikhail,” Emerson begs, withering beneath me. “I need you to move. I can’t come after only one pump. It will make me starfish for the rest of our exchange.” I almost laugh until she completes her reply. “I don’t want to be remembered as a dud.”
Remorse for her words blisters through her eyes, but it’s too late.
The damage has been done.
The spell has been broken.
As her words ring through my head on repeat, I pull out faster than I entered, and then head for the closest exit, fiddling with my zipper on the way.
I hear Emerson call my name, but I keep moving, the fight not in me. I am furious, fucking enraged, but since I’m the only fool deserving of my wrath, I must keep moving.
The beep of a call ending sounds into my ears a second after I slide into an idling SUV in front of my grandfather’s estate several long stomps later.
Kolya drifts his confused eyes over my flushed cheeks and sex-mused hair before his lips twitch in preparation to speak.
I beat him to the punch. “Transfer one hundred thousand into Emerson’s account.”
I’m at the end of my tether. It is not the time for Kolya to test me, but he pushes like he knows my reputation isn’t as fierce as my siblings’. “They will require proof.”
“Transfer her the money!” I demand again, my shout arriving with my fist landing on the headrest in front of me.
I hit it again and again, needing the thumps of my fists to drown out Emerson’s underhanded comment that our romp was a once-only reimagining.
She did it for the money, not for the memories, and the knowledge is killing me.
“Okay,” Kolya caves. “I will have it transferred immediately.”
My nostrils flare as I suck in some big breaths, endeavoring to calm my anger before it spirals out of control.
I shouldn’t have bothered. “Then organize for her things to be returned to her home before I return this evening.”
Kolya mumbles his understanding of my request before the SUV door opens, and he exits without a glance in my direction.
Chapter 27
Emerson
“Mikhail?”
I jackknife into a half-seated position when the creak of floorboards draws my focus to the entryway of the owner’s suite at Zelenolsk Manor. My stomach gurgles when the crispness of the cuff on the white shirt of my visitor registers as familiar.
All the staff at Zelenolsk wear the same uniform. Crisp white button-up shirts and either black trousers or pencil-pleated skirts.
“That is the final bag,” Loretta announces to a man in his mid-fifties, her professional tone hiding her deceit.
I arrived with only a bag, so I will leave with one as well. Loretta is merely saving face for a woman undeserving of her grace.
As I watch them walk out my belongings, my fight with Mikhail echoes in my mind. I feel horrible for how our exchange ended, but anger is there too, simmering just beneath the surface.
I shouldn’t have said what I said, but my head wasn’t in the right frame at the time to evaluate every word. When snowed under, my mouth runs away on me, but it’s far worse when lust clouds my judgment.
Mikhail could have stayed and spoken about it maturely, but again, he chose the cheat’s route.
He walked, which frees me to do the same with my head held high.
I just need my heart to get the memo. Its devastation has my shoulders slumped like they know I lost, and no amount of reassurance from my brain can convince it otherwise.
As I follow my belongings, neatly arranged by the staff I thought Mikhail had gotten rid of, my heart slips to my feet.
Turns out, the staff was just given the morning off. Mikhail’s prediction of how our fight would pan out was more accurate than even I could have imagined.
The realization he can still read me so easily adds another layer to my already bruised ego. If I were honest, I would admit that I don’t want to go. The past forty-eight hours have been a rollercoaster of emotions, but they were still filled with that messy gooeyness I couldn’t get enough of when Mikhail was mine.
Since I’ve not been honest with myself for a long time, I continue shadowing Loretta’s steps, each stride an effort.
I could have left abruptly like Mikhail, but when you’ve been kept waiting for so long, there is a desperate need for closure.
I couldn’t stop playing the words Mikhail spoke before I kissed him through my head, or the pain in his tone. It seemed as if our time apart was as torturous and confusing for him as it was for me.
There’s also the matter of the massive transfer that my phone pinged with only minutes after I sulked to my room, feeling empty and confused. The “consummation of vows” payment was wired too soon after Mikhail’s departure to announce it was done by anyone but him.